Stray
by hikahika
Summary: Because in the end, Humans are creatures who would do anything to get what they need... Fragments of the not so normal, not so exciting life of a Stalker and an Assassin Cross. [Slash]
1. Chapter 1

**The Hika Blabs** ::

This thing you see in front of you began when Hika was bored over her summer holidays, and spent massive amounts of time with her friend Minou on Ragnarok Online. We both had male characters (created for the sake of flirting with girls... and yes, I have to admit, it was extremely fun), whom Hika then fell in love with... And so began the story of Kale and Kaze.

_Stray_ will consist of small clipping-like chapters, outlining the different stages of Kale and Kaze's relationship, along with the people they meet and the things they do... Yes, it will be a little pointless. Also, note that there isn't too strong a connection with the game, except for various names used. You will not even hear a single skill name... I think.

**A warning: this story might become mild BL (shounen-ai, slash, whatever you call it) in later chapters, but it will be very easy to shrug it off and proclaim it to be friendship. The hints are so subtle it probably won't matter, but if you are offended by it (god, they don't even do anything except er... I don't know, punch each other like good friends do?), please do not sue me. To tell the truth, most of you won't notice it. But still, just to be safe.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter one  
****らしくねえって誰かが決めることじゃねえ！**

_(Who's to say what's supposed to be?!)_

The girl looked out of place. She was a mild-looking young thing, with shoulder-length honeyed-brown hair tied up into a ponytail with a few stray strands that framed a delicate face. Her blue eyes were large and flawless, a symbol of purity and innocence – eyes that belonged to those who would never imagine having to hurt someone without reason, and even if with reason, with much difficulty. She wandered into the Thief Guild, creating a terrible contrast to all the other people lurking around, hiding under rotting cloaks, and the reception looked at her funny.

"Your business today, madam?"

She was too young to be called 'madam', but yet that was the procedure, and the male at the counter felt obliged to keep to it.

The girl heisitated, "I… I need to temporarily borrow one or two people from your guild…"

The reception raised an eyebrow and took a closer look. A plain brown bodice over a white blouse and a flowing skirt that fell to sweep at the ground, the lack of armour except a simple shoulder guard, and a sword that looked quite new that hung at her waist, indicating the status of a not-so-poor commoner – this wasn't their usual customer.

Still, he continued with the procedure. "And may I know for what? If you have someone you wished to wipe off the face of Rune Midgard I can introduce you to some of our finest Assassins, if you have someone you wanted to have followed around and kept an eye on we have the best Stalkers for the job…"

The girl's eyes seemed to widen, almost terrified at the idea of hiring someone to kill another, "N-no, I have no intention of doing that… I thought I might need some help… you know…" Her eyes flickered sideways slightly, "Collecting… items…"

The man lazily swatted at a fly that happened to come to rest on his arm, successfully flattening into a mere smudge on his sleeve. "Madam, then I do suppose you have come to the wrong place. The Hunter Guild or the Knight Guild might be a more appropriate choice to seek for such help…"

"They were out of people, sir." The girl swallowed, trying very hard to not run out of the entrance from which she came, "I have to do this quest as soon as possible though, and when I visited the Hunter Guild they pointed me to the Thief Guild so I thought…" She trailed off, suddenly looking unsure as a cloaked figure nearby cleared his throat and spat on the ground.

"Ah." There was a pause, then a sigh of defeat. "I understand. So it has become known to the other Greater Guilds now…" He rubbed at his temples, his sentence directed more at himself than at the young girl. "Madam, they must have been referring to two very strange members of our Guild who stray from the usual ways. A stupid thing to do, since it has landed them in an extreme monetary crisis, but alas, there is no rule to stop them from doing so..." He sighed, and reached for a thick black leather book lying at the corner of the counter and flipped through it, his eyes scanning the pages, "Ah, they are currently on one of their… quests, but I do suppose they are bound to return soon. If you are that desperate, you could find yourself a seat and wait over-"

"Oh, don't talk like that! You flatter me so!" A giggle, followed by boyish laughter, as a young female blacksmith entered the guild, her slender legs – exposed due to the extremely short denim pants she was wearing – drawing the attention of many.

"Ah, but I'm talking the truth! Aren't we, Kaze!"

"Obviously."

"You must remember to come back and look for us next time you need help you know? It isn't often we get such a pretty and adorable girl like you to visit us. It brightens the dreariness of our usual quests…"

The man at the counter raised an eyebrow at that.

"Oops. Hello mister Qren, how was your day? I had absolutely _no_ intention of insulting you with my previous sentence, naturally. And don't worry! Our client will be absolutely pleased with what we have done for her and will lodge no complaint!"

"Kale, I would actually like to point out the fact that you accept absolutely _none_ of the quests I offer you unless it involves a pretty girl, and nothing to do with the norm."

"Absolutely so!" Kale flashed a grin at Qren, "Which was why I said I had no _intention_ of insulting you, but apparently I did. Please stop glaring at me like that?"

Qren didn't really think that he was glaring, but many other members of the Thief Guild would have agreed with Kale that Qren almost seemed to have a natural death glare etched onto his features. There was a snicker from behind Kale, and Qren redirected his death glare to the source of the snicker.

There was a nonchalant shrug from said source, "At least we do quests."

Their client giggled at that, but walked forward and placed a bag of coins at the counter, winking at the now exceedingly grumpy Qren before saluting the two young males and exitting, her cart trailing merrily behind her.

Qren opened the bag and piled up the coins like an expert. "You do realise that it is not much, compared to the amount paid for the usual jobs."

"Mmhm, but money is still money. You can't deny _that_."

Qren sighed and pushed two thirds of the pile of coins at Kale, who gladly received them. "If you even considered doing one of the usual jobs, you won't have to worry about how you are to settle your three meals daily, you know? Both of you are young, and have the potential to become the favourites of our clients, and yet…"

Kale made a face. "But all those clients are old ugly men with an ugly face and an even uglier personality. I mean, why else would you want to pay to kill others, unless your personality stank, right?" He directed the question to the person behind him.

"Definitely."

"There," Kale turned back and nodded in satisfaction at Qren, "Kaze knows those people more than I do, since he's probably met some of them in the earlier years of his life, so of course he knows better. Me? I'd rather offer my talents to a fair maiden like-" Kale paused as he noticed the girl standing to a corner, watching the scene in front of her mutely, "Like this young lady here!" He beamed at her.

She blinked, obviously shocked at how the attention was suddenly focused at her, but managed a small smile.

"Let me guess," Kale held up a hand before the girl to speak, "You're looking for us."

The girl looked from one boy to the other, then back to Qren, who sighed,

"Madam, introducing to you the weirdest members of the guild, Kigami Kaze and Kale…"

* * *

"So, how old are you, Yune?"

"I've just turned fourteen this year."

They had set off for Izlude, since that was where they could get a boat to reach the Island she wanted to go to. Throughout the walk Yune found herself answering question after question the two threw at her constantly; it wasn't annoying though, since she took the chance to return the questions to find out more about these two "strange" people who weren't "doing what they were supposed to be meant to do".

"How about you, Kale-san?"

The redhead turned to her with a grin, "Guess."

He was definitely a young boy, probably not yet a man. Rusty-wine-red eyes still held the glint of a mischievous kid, and unlike his companion, he wasn't really very tall – around half a head taller than she was. She thought seriously for a moment, "Uhm… fifteen?"

"HAHA! Kaze Kaze I've grown younger by two years!" Kale punched the air, "That's great. Always better to look younger than anything."

Yune found herself returning his grin. "What about Kaze-san?"

Kale's companion was quieter than he was, but that was simply because the young Stalker seemed to have a lot more to say. Kaze wasn't a person who didn't talk – he talked more than most people Yune knew – but rather a person who seemed to think through his words slightly more. He was taller than Kale around half a head, built slightly lean, but yet still muscular. Cooler dark blue eyes didn't glint with mischief, but rather with a more composed stubborness. The cigarette he had lit almost after they exited the Thief Guild also seemed to add a more mature aura to him, wreathed in the white-greys of cigarette smoke that seemed to match the colour of his hair.

"Eighteen." He exhaled a small cloud.

It was close to the answer she would have given, if he had asked her to guess.

"So, we need to get on to the boat and… what?"

"I need to collect Corals, actually."

Kale whistled, and Kaze raised an eyebrow,

"What are you making?"

"You… you can make stuff from Coral?" Yune found herself oblivious.

"Mm, Coral is actually an organic gemstone. If you polish it and refine it you can actually make rather good-looking jewellery."

"Oh… I, I didn't know that," Yune flushed and ducked her head, "This is just part of my test…"

"Test?" Kale echoed.

"Yea… My sisters give me tests… more like quests to prove my skill."

Kaze smirked, "I'd say they're just using you to do errands so they can make new jewellery."

Yune found that thought amusing. "I never thought of it that way, I guess…" But she let it drop, and sink, before changing the topic.

They found the ship that would take them to the island; Yune paid for the fare, as they had agreed. Though to her it seemed rather small a sum of money, both boys had been elated when she offered to pay it for them. They were, afterall – as Qren had put it – in some sort of a monetary crisis.

Instead of sitting down within one of the rooms in the ship, Kale and Kaze had dragged Yune up to the deck. The breeze was slightly moist and salty, as most seabreezes were; and was so strong it whipped her hair backwards and nearly undid her ponytail.

Kale inhaled deeply, "Whewf. Would never get to smell _that_ anywhere near Prontera. Or Morroc," He added, and reached over to pull the cigarette from Kaze's mouth, "Don't smoke out here, you're polluting the air! Besides, the wind's so strong, I doubt you can anyway."

"I can." Kaze retorted.

"Too bad." Kale stepped on the cigarette butt and grinned.

Somehow it brought a small smile to Yune's lips, "You two must be really good friends."

Both turned around to look at her as if she was crazy.

"What?"

"Him?"

"Well, I guess he's my partner for work and all. And we go to the bar together. And okay, we go together when we're flirting…"

"The guy stole my wallet when he first saw me." Kaze muttered.

"Correction, when I saw you for the _second time_ in my sad, sad pathetic life." Kale gave out a fake sob here, "You treated me like a _dog_ the first time you saw me."

Kaze ignored that comment, "We're not good friends. He's my…" He paused. "Subordinate."

"What?" Kale snorted, "When did it become that way!?"

"I'm older than you."

"That does _not_ make me your subordinate! Don't you have to _pay_ your subordinates?"

"I make breakfast." Kaze shrugged.

"And I make dinner." Came the retort.

"Well, you're still my subordinate."

"Idiot."

"Gaki."(1)

Yune watched the two in front of her begin to throw insults at other like one would watch a table tennis match, and couldn't help but smile.

* * *

The ride wasn't a long one. The walk that followed was long. In order to be able to get to the coral reefs they had to pretty much "go underwater". The place was magicked, however – at least, that's what Yune thought; simply because you could breathe underwater just like the fishes did.(2) And though it was terribly difficult to walk around, they got used to it after a bit of wading around.

Somehow.

Whilst Yune was more than unused to the sudden water resistance, she also found it terribly hard to kill the monsters. Kale had ran off, claiming that he'd collect the corals faster since he was not going to kill the monsters around it, but rather sneak past and grab them.

Kaze and her were left searching for coral piles with slightly less monsters around them so they could hack them away. Yune was nearly overwhelmed by a fish, which had to be kicked away by Kaze.

"Sashimi for dinner?" He smirked a bit as the fish lay slain, before looking to Yune, this time serious. "You don't look like you can handle them."

"I… I can't." Yune flushed, embarrassed, "Which was why I thought I'd go ask for help in the first place."

"Why did you take it up then?" The question was not meant to be accusing, "The quest, I mean. The one your sisters sent you on?"

"Because…" Yune gasped as another fish came flailing towards her. Kaze kicked it away again with a dirty word,

"Stupid fish." He turned to Yune after that, as if telling her he was waiting for an answer.

"My sisters said they were able to, when they were my age… Our family is famous for talented female knights, you see… And well, father and mother see all my sisters so talented, and they say it's supposed to be in my blood. I'm supposed to be… as talented as them…" She seemed to grow angry at that thought, and her knuckles gripped her sword until they went white. The fish that came charging at her once more was thrown back as she slammed her sword into it with a cry. It then tackled her and sent her flying.

Kaze sighed and slammed a katar into the fish. "Don't force yourself or anything."

Yune bit down on her lip. She looked upset, though not ready to cry; there seemed to be a stubbornness in her watering eyes that stopped them from leaking. "But you understand don't you? Your entire guild's telling you how you were supposed to be doing something, what you should be; and when you don't live up to their expectations of what you should be…"

"It doesn't matter."

Kaze hacked off the tentacles of one of the creatures that tried to launch a sneak attack on him, his eyebrows in a slight frown. "Because whether you're supposed to be like this, or like that, or should be able to do something, it's not up to them to decide. You know yourself best, you decide what's most like you."

A chunk of coral fell into his hands after suffering a clean blow from his blade. "That's why it doesn't bother us. We decide what we want to do, and that's what we're supposed to be." He tossed the chunk toward Yune, before shrugging a shoulder at where Kale was running from an entire mob of fish, "He'll agree with me."

The smile was confident.

* * *

"What took you so long, Yune?"

"I went hunting for Corals." Yune looked absolutely dishevelled. Her clothes were soaked, her face muddy, her hair a complete mess. "With people from the Thief Guild because I was too weak. We trained a bit together."

Her sisters' looks of disbelief and mocking faded off their faces when they saw Yune's triumphant smile.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I'm as talented as you all with the sword. If mom and dad expect me to be like you again I will tell them about how I wield a bow and arrow better than you all. And don't tell me how you managed to kill some monster when you were my age anymore, that's you."

Her determination flickered a bit when there seemed to be silence from the four older girls in front of her.

Then came a giggle, and all four girls were laughing.

Yune didn't know why, but the next day they presented her with a new polished bow and a quiver of arrows.

* * *

1. Gaki: Kid, brat. Not exactly the most polite way you can phrase it either. Kaze will constantly call Kale this, so remember it. XD

2. Bleh. The first draft of this was in the under water caves on that island thing, and I was too lazy to change it, considering the amount of things I had to rewrite if I did. Doesn't it amuse you, that people can go all the way under water, and still breathe? Must be some Rune Midgard magic.

This chapter was written ages ago. I dug it up, cleared up a few errors and changed a few details. This fanfic will consist of similar one-chapter events, almost like clippings, about the various quests Kaze and Kale take up… This takes place about a year after they were introduced to each other as partners in the same guild… Yes, don't worry, the later chapters will go back to that past…

So… Yes, Hika will go and rewrite chapter 2, and hopefully post it up soon…

Review if you feel the need to. (smiles pleadingly)


	2. Chapter 2

**The Hika Blabs ::**

Yes I know. Quick updates. XD I guess it's because chapter 2 required less editting than I thought it would, so here it is. I... I have nothing else left to say. I overused a bit of japanese in this, but at least I have the confidence to say that there should be nothing wrong with the grammar and all that... (I hope...)

Aaanyway. Enough of me rambling. Here's chapter two!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 2****  
大切な人があるなら　きっと　わかるよ**

(_If you have someone important to you, surely you'd understand._)**  
**

Some days, he took a day's leave or so from jobs from the Thief Guild.

Some days, Kaze would walk out and suddenly disappear, like he usually did.

Some days, he would have nothing to do, and no one to chat with.

Some days, the sky overhead looked like it was ready to pour, but held it in.

On a day when so many coincidents found themselves bundled together in one big package, Kale found himself desperately in need of something to do, something to occupy himself with so he wouldn't start thinking about other things he didn't want to think of.

On a day like this, he met her.

She was a merchant, squatting down by the side of the road, a small wooden sign clutched tightly in both hands as the passerbys walked past, barely noticing. It was how they had pretended they didn't see her which made him notice her.

Strange.

"You need help?" He poked his head over the top of her cart.

The girl nearly jumped back in shock. The wooden sign reading "Requesting for a Temporary Party, I'm really weak" hit the ground with a thunk. "Uh, uhm…"

He held up a hand in apology, "Sorry, sorry. I didn't really mean to scare you or anything."

She shook her head slightly, "It's ok."

"Well, you need a temporary party don't you? I'm only one person, but unless you want to go hit some giant, I should be good enough."

"C-could you? I don't really have a lot of money, but I'll pay you back!"

Kale didn't really care about the money today. Oh, usually he would, but on a day like this, it didn't matter anymore. If he was picky, he might be back at square one again, stuck with nothing else to do except to think.

"Yea, it's no problem. What do you need?"

* * *

_It was exactly this type of weather the day she left him. She left him with a promise, and the smile he always loved; a smile that would have always brightened up his day even when the skies overhead were as cloudy and grey as they were that day._

_"__Mommy has something she needs to do, Kale." She said with that smile, "So be a good boy and wait for me here. I'll be back soon."_

_She winked at him and ruffled his hair and told him to be a good boy. _

_Every step she took she would turn back and smile, wave…_

_He smiled and waved back almost everytime, then made himself comfortable in the little corner she left him in and waited._

_And waited._

_But she never came back._

_And the rain didn't fall._

* * *

He wasn't in for a very pleasant surprise when the young Merchant – Ma-chan, she told him to call her – showed him to the large bears in the Gonryun dungeons, saying she needed a bit of their fur in order for her to finish a headgear. 

The girl was very determined, in the sense that she was flailing her cart all over the place, even though she was barely doing enough damage. Kale, frustrated, slipped behind the bear who found itself with a potion flung in its face, and gave it a nice clean stab from his dagger. The bear fell with a grunt.

"Whoa. That was dangerous." He grinned at Ma-chan, who was now looking terrified. "You okay? We can head back if you feel uncomfortable."

She shook her head furiously. "No, no. I'll stay, I'll do my best. Let's stay, please?"

Kale raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and gave her a smile, "Yea, no problem."

Instead of taking the usual way out – splitting up into individual teams to hunt for the same item – which tended to save a lot more time and prove to be faster and more efficient, this time Kale had to make sure he stuck close to Ma-chan to make sure she wasn't going to be mauled by one of the bears she was flinging her cart at. They weren't exactly the easiest thing to kill either, but a bit of dodging and a few stabs in the right places tended to do the trick.

"Hey, can I ask?"

"Yes?"

"What type of headgear is this? Why are you so desperate to make it? I mean, nothing's going to happen to you so long as Kale-sama is here! But… you know, wouldn't it help to make it sometime else? Maybe when you were stronger? What if the person you asked to help you was a coward? You would've died." He tried his best to make his very realistic thought sound less threatening, but the truth tended to always sound a bit… rough.

Ma-chan shook her head again, and Kale was reminded of how puppies tended to shake themselves free from water after they had taken a bath. "I… I need to make it by today."

"Eh? Why?"

"Well… because…" She flushed a little bit and ducked her head, "This person is leaving Prontera today…"

Kale understood. "Aaah Who's the lucky guy? Your boyfriend? Or is it a-…"

Ma-chan went redder than she was, "N-no! It's… he's just a neighbour, and older brother to me…"

"Hnn?" Kale knew denial when he heard it, and when he pressed on with another question he had to feign the interest in his voice, "So? Why the headgear? Or to be precise, why risk so much? You can just buy a headgear off the streets, if not something cheaper can easily do."

"It has to be this." Ma-chan said firmly.

"What, risk your life and energy just to make something for a guy that treats you like a younger sister and nothing else? A guy that's going to leave soon and most probably won't give you anything in return?"

Obviously he was a little harsh, even a little worked up. All of a sudden, he didn't know why that was the case. It was probably the sky that refused to rain; it always made him a little wound-up.

"Eh," Ma-chan was a little taken aback at his sudden outburst. She looked almost a little sad when she replied, "But he waits for me. Everytime after I finish selling stuff in the streets it's around evening time, and he waits for me near the fountain so he can send me home. Sometimes I'm a bit late, but he will be there waiting for me."

Her slightly fearful expression slipped into a firmer, more determined one. "I don't know why, but whenever I see him there, after work, waiting for me… It's a strange feeling, but I'm really happy." She smiled softly, "He is an important person to me… and for such a person I feel it's worth it."

"Datte, taisetsuna hito ga aru nara… kitto, wakaru yo."(1)

Kale didn't know how he was supposed to react. Her smile was enough to tell him that she was serious about this. No matter how much he wanted to question her, to tell her she was being stupid, to tell her that 'important people' didn't exist…

Who was he to say that? He didn't understand.

* * *

It was sunset by the time both of them had returned to Prontera, drained completely of all energy. He watched her hand over the furs they had collected just now to the lady who made the headgear she wanted, and stayed there until it was handed back to her. 

The sun had already set, and the usual pale blue sky of Prontera had dimmed, but yet in the distance Kale could still see the vague shadow of someone waiting, by the water fountain. He stopped walking forward,

"Well. I'll stop sending you. Looks like someone's here for me to pass the baton on to." He grinned at Ma-chan, who blushed again. "Give it to him, k? And then have a good rest." He stuffed a hand into a pocket and walked away, waving a hand at her.

"W-wait!"

"Yes?"

"The payment…"

"Oh. You said you didn't have money, but…"

"Nono, I said I didn't have a lot of money…" Ma-chan dug around in her small sling bag and pulled out a bag of coins. "I must pay you. I have caused a lot of trouble for you today, out of my own stubborness."

Kale smiled slightly, "I won't say no to money, I guess." It really wasn't much, but as he usually said, money was money.

"Ah, and this…" She pulled out a small black cat plushie from her bag, a little floppy, but exceedingly cute. "For listening to me all day."

She bowed before running off in the direction of the water fountain. Kale looked down at the black cat in his hands and sighed in defeat – a cat plushie for a reward?

"Datte, taisetsuna hito ga aru nara… kitto, wakaru yo."

"… An important person, huh."

"_So be a good boy and wait for me here…"_

He laughed a bit to himself; it left a bitter taste on his tongue.

No, he didn't understand.

* * *

The walk back to where he stayed in Prontera was not a long one. Yet the night was cool and the sky mixed with blues and purples and greys was far more comforting than the sky in the early afternoon – a grey balloon that wanted to burst but could not. He took the time to walk, to breathe in the dank smell of night and… 

His nose twitched at the familiar smell of cigarette smoke. Suddenly alert – though not really knowing why – his eyes flickered from one place to another, getting used to the dark and searching for the person he knew was there.

Kaze exhaled another cloud of smoky-white; he was leaning against a tree, and he looked more than bored.

"Oii… What are you doing here?"

At the sound of his voice, Kaze turned around to look at him, his expression one that seemed to spell doom.

Kale blinked.

"YOU. Where have you gone?! It's been so late and you left me no note _and_ you forgot to lock the door when you left! Out meeting a girl? _How dare you not call me you annoying brat._"

He bent down, picked up a stone, and hurled it at Kale's head.

"HEY!!!" Kale dodged the rock. "Well, okay, it was a girl, but I was out doing a quest with her! Extra money, okay!? Or to be precise I didn't know I was that popular with the girls, after the quest she had to call me to stay back so I could get a reward-"

He was stopped from continuing his lie by Kaze as he stepped forward and gave his hair a ruffle. "Yes yes, I know."

"Heh." Kale grinned and held up the bag of money. And the cat plushie. "See? I got these as a reward"

"………" Kaze fell silent.

Kale blinked. "Uhm?"

"That cat."

"…Yes?"

"Where'dyou get it?"

Kale had to squint to study Kaze's expression. "Uhm, she gave it to me. Said it was thanks for listening to her for so long…"

"WHAA! Why do you get _plushies_ as rewards for quests! This is UNFAIR."

"Wha." Kale blinked. "You er… like plushies…?"

Kaze stopped in mid rant. "Well, I…" He tried to look dignified. "Have a soft spot for cute animals."

"O…kay."

A new discovery everyday.

"What's that look on your face! Is there anything wrong with that? They say guys who like animals have a greater capacity for love, care and affection!"(2)

Kale gave him the dignified eyebrow, before sighing in defeat. He plopped the cat on Kaze's head,

"If you want it you can have it."

"Eh! Really? Don't you want to keep it as a souvenir?"

Kale shrugged, "I don't have a cute-animal-con like you do." He grinned, "Keep it."

Partly it was because he really didn't have that much of a soft spot for cute animal stuffed toys. Yet at the same time it was also because he was feeling absurdly – without reason, too – happy. Why, though, he didn't know.

"Come on. It's late. I want to bathe, have a nice dinner, and sleep!"

_Taisetsuna hito nante inee yo._

_Ima wa, na. _(3)

* * *

After-words: 

1. "Datte, taisetsuna hito ga aru nara… kitto, wakaru yo." – If you have someone important to you, you're sure to understand.

2. I hereby quote Kaze's exact words in the game. I know it spoils his er... initial "cool-guy" image, but this is one weird guy, remember. (smiles)

3. Taisetsuna hito nante inee yo. Ima wa, na. – I don't have someone important to me. Not now, anyway.

You know why I used japanese now, right?!

BECAUSE IT SOUNDS BETTER!!! (or so you claim)

It's true! OTZ

Aaaanyway. Yes, I let a male classmate of mine read this, and he actually told me Ma-chan and Kale made a cute couple. (laughs) Interesting, really, considering the fact that there I was worrying if he'd complain about Kaze and Kale's friendship. Shows how subtle I am. XD (yea right.)


	3. Chapter 3

**The Hika Blabs ::**

The truth - this chapter was initially skipped when I was writing Stray during my summer holidays. The reason? Simple - it's Kaze-centric, and Kaze is not my character. Made to mirror (only slightly) Kale's chapter 2, I was supposed to bring out a part of Kaze's past, and at that time I was simply not confident enough with him. This edit was made after writing 8 chapters of Archetype Soliloquy, and constant P-chatting/Roleplaying with Minou, so I do suppose I know him _slightly_ better compared to last time. The quality... should be doubted. Because afterall, there is a HUGE difference in writing for your own character, and writing for someone else's.

Still, Hika tried her best. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 3****  
自由ってもんはさぁ　自分で手に入れるものだぜ？**

(_Freedom is something you get by yourself._)

Kigami Kaze was a lazy, inconsistent person. That was what most people said about him, anyway. For most of it, he took a 'I-don't-care' approach towards most things in life, and had the tendency to forget anything that was of no importance to him. Sadly, about ninety percent of the things in his life were of no importance to him.

When anyone attempted to criticize his ways of doing things, as listed above, he would argue that it was his freedom to do things as he wanted.

Freedom.

He never wanted to be restricted again, he never wanted people to tell him what to do again, he never wanted to be stuck within a routine again.

Perhaps it was because of that, or perhaps because Autumn was nearing, he took constant breaks from his job at the Thief Guild, and disappeared often. Most of the time he walked straight out of the small house he and Kale shared, and went around wandering without giving notice. He usually returned late at night, or even the next day.

Kaze was a lazy, inconsistent person; in other words, he treasured freedom above anything else.

He wandered to Payon today. Payon, because he didn't like Morroc. Nor did he like Prontera – where he lived with Kale – because of the busy, crowded streets. He wandered to Payon, and polluted the bamboo forest of the quiet village with his cigarette smoke.

* * *

_He lived a life of expectations. The type of life where everyone looked to you and expected you to do something, smiling their disgusting smiles and saying their disgusting words._

"_You're the eldest son of the Ashetaka aren't you? Aah, you must be as talented as your father!"_

"_The next heir, eh?"_

_Disgusting._

_He never wanted that life. He wanted out, from all those expectations and nasty smiles and comparisons. The younger him got upset with the strict rules his father imposed on him; the younger him had cried often when they all forced him to do things he never wanted to do._

_It took him too much to realise that nothing was going to happen, unless he walked out by himself._

"_You want freedom? If you walk out with your own will, I won't stop you."_

_A slap. Another. Sharp sounds that echoed one after another. Sounds so sharp they seemed to pierce through his left eardrum. Left it shaking, shaking, the aftershocks of an earthquake._

_He stood still amidst all the shaking. His face barely a grimace._

_You want freedom?_

_Get it yourself._

* * *

He had forgotten how many hours he had spent, sitting on a rock somewhere in the midst of bamboo plants, staring blankly at the sky and the clouds that floated past. He would have continued to forget about time if there wasn't a sudden rustling from behind him. His hand flew to the katars that hung by his side, midnight blue eyes flashing as he spun around. Too alert, even when he didn't want to be.

"Whoa!"

"EEP!"

Kaze blinked, the two young boys blinked back at him.

"It's a _guy_." One said in awe.

Kaze exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke and slipped his katars back into their holders. He turned back to look at the sky, wondering how much longer the kids would stay.

"Hey, big brother!"

"Mm?"

"Did you happen to see a girl around here?"

"Crying and all that?" The other boy piped in.

"You know, not the normal type of girl…" The first boy's voice dropped into a whisper, "The _dead_ type."

"You mean a ghost." Kaze raised an eyebrow.

"Ghosts." The boy nodded solemnly. "There's been rumours lately. Around evening time there'd be a girl sitting in this bamboo forest, crying. She's been disturbing some villagers lately, so there has been a reward put out for anyone who manages to catch her and all that!" He puffed out his chest proudly, "So we're going to find her!"

"Right!" His friend nodded enthusiastically.

"A reward…?" Kaze looked interested. The fact that he had skipped today's job meant that Kale would give him a nasty talk about 'How Much They Needed Money' and 'It Is Unfair That I Have To Do Everything While You Disappear'. He remembered the fact that they didn't have money – it was hard to forget that fact.

"Yea! Money to whoever manages to get rid of the ghost!"

Kaze stood up from his rock, "You know what, kiddoes? It's bedtime for little kids like you. I'll handle this… ghost."

* * *

It was chilly out there at night. The bamboo cast long, thickened shadows over dusty green grass, tinged silver by the moonlight. Occasionally there would be a flicker of light amongst the tall thin black pillars that reached up towards the not-so-black sky. Kaze found himself jerking at almost every rustle of movement, his eyes bright, alert.

He could see almost everything, clearly. One of his more redeeming traits – as Kale had put it – was the fact that, despite being unreliable for almost everything else, he could see well at night. _"It's in your blood…"_ An annoying voice seemed to echo.

And all of a sudden, Kaze didn't want his night vision, for all it's redeeming purposes.

The path he took was long and winding, studded with small rocks and stones that were of a tripping hazard; small rocks and stones which he automatically avoided – not because he was scared he would trip, but rather because he knew they would make a sound. Why he wasn't supposed to make a sound he didn't really bother to think about. It was instinct. Plus, the fact that his left ear heard through a fuzz of static meant that the more noise there was around him, the less he could hear.

Crickets chirping at night probably wasn't the loudest noise ever, but nevertheless Kaze walked the slow, rhythmic yet soundless walk of an Assassin.

There was a different sound that seemed to float above the sounds of the mate-calling insects. Kaze frowned, stopped for a moment, his right ear straining to hear what his left ear would miss. Towards the left, perhaps – he didn't pride himself on his ability to locate things (neither was he proud of his ability to become helplessly lost at times).

Muffled noises.

A few footsteps closer and there was a whimper. Choke. Whimper. Sob. Then the thin howling of a mid-cry wail, muted by a small hiccup.

A few more footsteps closer.

There was a small clearing amidst the bamboos, and sitting on the ground, as wispy as the books around her, was a young girl. Her flickering, almost glowing-transparency, made Kaze squint in order to define the outlines. She was pale – as most ghosts were (he wondered how you could see a dark-skinned ghost, especially when it was supposed to be translucent; surely you would need a white background? And weren't ghosts supposed to come out in the night? Where would the white background come from then? Kaze forgot that thought as suddenly as he thought of it.) – with long hair and the tattered clothes of a student mage.

Her fingers turned page after page of the wispy books in front of her. Sobbing. Wailing.

His left ear crackled. His right ear heard, _"I can't do it… I can't…"_

"You can't what?"

The girl jumped, her outlines flickered off as she did, and for a moment there was only a faint silver blur in her place. Then pale eyes widened in realisation. _"Y-you… you aren't running away."_

Kaze shrugged, "Why run away from such an adorable lady?"

A tiny breeze blew past. The books flickered. The girl flickered. _"Everyone else does. And before that everyone else stayed away."_

Kaze scratched the back of his head. He didn't truly expect a ghost – it was one of those things he knew existed, but would never truly think of actually seeing – and the flickering annoyed him. It would have been much easier to clear up if it was some kid who thought dressing up in white clothes and howling with the wind to scare adults was an amazing pasttime.

How in the world did you chase real ghosts away?

"Why were you crying?"

"_Because I can't."_ Came the miserable reply. The girl's mouth did not move as she said that, and she lowered her head to her books. _"I can't study like my big brother can. Until I understand the Principles of Elemental Theory, I'm stuck here."_ Her fingers carressed a flickering page, then her fist had clenched, and her nails dug into non-existent paper. _"I can't understand it. I don't want to read it. But my big brother can. So everyone says I can, that I have the blood of my family, that I need to understand. My teachers said I was only being lazy, which was why my studies were so terrible."_ Her downcast eyes looked up at him, and for a moment she just stared at him, pale eyes almost looking watery.

Then she reached out. _"Help me. Free me. I want to go out."_

Fingertips of cold brushed against his cheeks.

"_Please."_

Cold, cold, cold. He could barely feel her touch, yet he knew she was there. A cold pillar of frozen air.

"No." His eyes stared straight into hers, and watched as pale icy blue sparked into the bright red of anger.

"_WHY!? Why won't anyone let me out!? Why won't they stop comparing, stop expecting, stop telling me what to do! Why won't they just let me be?!"_ The ground was beginning to freeze over, the lush green grass of the Payon forest covered with a frost-like dust. Something exploded in front of him, and Kaze had to twist his face sideways to stop the tip of the icicle that had sprouted from the ground from impaling him from beneath his chin. There was a sharp pain on his cheek. Not like the usual wounds; freezing cold.

The fingers were wisps of ice-rope around him, holding him in place, fixing him in that spot. Ice crystals were forming in a small circle around the girl. A cold blast of air, and the ground beneath her ripped open to shards of ice.

Restraints.

Freedom.

Restraints held you back from freedom.

He gritted his teeth, pushed his feet firmly into the ground, and gave them a twist, a wrench, a tug; his legs sent signals of pain up his body. Sharp, but not sharp enough; no sharper than the slaps his father had rained down on him that night, like the rain that stabbed at the windowpane.

He had walked out of that restraint. There was no reason why this wouldn't give way.

There was a crack beneath his feet, the sound of ice cracking. And as the icicles slammed into the spot where he was supposed to be standing on, Kaze slipped behind the girl, the tip of his katar pointing at the back of her neck. "I don't know whether you're like all those other spirit-like things that roam around, but I had managed to poison them before. I don't see what's going to stop you from being poisoned."

The frozen air stopped moving, and the girl stopped flickering – almost as if she were holding in her breath.

"Freedom can't be given to you." He was too lazy to explain. "You want it, get it yourself. No one's forcing you to stay, and since you're dead I don't suppose 'I'll kill you if you try to fight back' is going to work very well."

The girl flickered again, turning her head slowly to look at him. The icicles at her feet had melted. The look was that of realisation. Her eyes were no longer pale blue, nor bright red. She smiled at him with the prettiest violet eyes, firmed her mouth, and nodded.

He waited.

It took her till the morning to get rid of all her books.

* * *

"_I don't want to go back. I'm never going back to that place again…"_

Words he would always mutter, draped over the counter of the Bar, drunk after his tenth glass of some fancy cocktail with absurdly high alcohol concentrations. He forgot he said them the next day, but Kale had always looked at him with some strange look over breakfast, wine-red eyes almost uncertain as his mouth voiced all the questions that he didn't want to ask.

The single question, the one that he never asked, was never something Kaze had bothered to notice.

"I'm back…"

Kale had forgotten to lock the door to their house, again. Kaze frowned as he turned the doorknob and stepped into the small living room, walking into a scene that was becoming almost familiar – his dinner on the wooden dining table, untouched, cold. Kale asleep on their only sofa, still crouched in his sitting position, his head tilted back slightly as he breathed out sleep. When did it become this way he didn't remember anymore.

He sighed, threw off his cloak, and began making breakfast. The smell of bacon always woke Kale up.

* * *

Hm... this was... strange. xD

Just because... well, it's KAZE. You know how hard he is to understand!? -mock fumes- All this time Kale's been together with him, and we've yet been able to truly understand what makes him tick, you know? There are the simple bits, like his 'I forgot' statements when it's something he doesn't care about, and his very firm belief in his own freedom... (We have both survived his wrath after unconsciously restricting that)

Enough complaining from Hika... hopefully the next update will be faster, because all I need to do is to edit and rewrite some not-very-nicely-written bits.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Hika Blabs ::**

The following chapter was supposed to be chapter 7. But then Hika thought it'd be nicer to go through this phase first, so she betrayed the initial story plan, and shifted this (and the next) chapter forward. -smiles-

Beware of the choppy, choppy, choppy-ness. (I FAIL)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**他人を大切に思う弱さはゲームオーバってことだぜ**

(_The weakness of treasuring others means game over_)

"Eh, is this for me?" Kaze caught the small parcel tossed at him.

"In a way, yes." Kale eyed the mountain of similar small parcels behind the Assassin. "Happy Birthday. But then again, considering that pile of chocolates those girls crammed into our mailbox, perhaps I should've given you a toothbrush and some toothpaste instead. If you get tooth decay, it is not my fault."

Kaze laughed, "Tooth decay? Now that's something new." He placed the parcel separate from the mountain, and smiled,

"Thanks."

"I want bacon for breakfast tomorrow."

"What? Isn't this a birthday present?"

"Yea, but I expect something in return you know? That cost me quite a lot."

"Gaki!"

"Beeeh-da."

It was one of their usual squabbles, but it didn't require too much intelligence on Kale's part to realise how he had smiled back, suddenly happy.

* * *

The streets of Prontera were still as usual. Bustling with merchants trying to beat the price of other merchants; full of people who were either shopping or having some leisure chat with a person who was only a stranger to them five minutes ago. The darker alleyways and corners everyone stayed away from, since it was known for bandits and robbers to lurk there, awaiting their next prey.

Kale didn't choose to lurk in those places. Whilst it was apparently easier to force someone to give you their wallet when there was no one else around, there was less trouble when you took their money without them knowing. And the best place to do that was where people were aplenty.

There was a male swordsman in front of him who didn't seem to realise that having your purse peek out of your pocket was a free invitation, and for a moment Kale felt his fingers twitching. He stuffed them in his pocket; he didn't need to do that now, not when he could earn about the same amount of money from quests.

Occasionally when he was terribly bored though, he would take the purse off someone he didn't really like the looks of.

Occasionally.

He walked past line after line of temporary stalls set up by the merchants of Prontera, each calling out to any promising customer, offering their products warmly.

"You can have a bite of my fruits for free! I guarantee you'd take some home!"

"Hey, hey! That miss over there! Won't this cloak look great on you?"

"Sir, sir! This sword would look great on you…"

"I have just the thing for you-"

Kale walked past line after line. It was amazing how people paid you attention when you looked good and your purse was promisingly full. It was amazing how when you were in rags, you could latch on to someone's legs and be dragged along, unnoticed; or worse, kicked away without being looked at.

"_Here." The roasted chicken leg smelt like heaven, though it was shoved at him rather unwillingly. Behind the boy who had offered it to him, a young woman stood with her hands over his shoulders, smiling._

He closed his eyes and breathed in.

He could still smell it, mingled with the dense musty air of rain that did not want to fall.

It was the best chicken leg he had ever tasted too.

* * *

Untrue to popular belief, Kale was a thinker.

Many people pointed out that people with red-hair were fiery and passionate – people who dashed into things on instinct without considering the consequences. It was that stereotype, along with his more outgoing personality, that led people to believe that he didn't think.

Sadly, it was often the opposite.

He had been thinking for a very long time ever since the moment they had entered a forest somewhere North of Prontera. Their job was to escort a young Super Novice through it. The more they walked, the clearer it became to Kale,

"Kaze," He started, "I think we're lost."

"…" Kaze stopped walking and looked around him. "This place looks familiar."

This was why he had wanted to reject this quest earlier; he had long predicted such an outcome. The young girl – Pymela – had already made it clear she did not know the way, he was known for not being able to differenciate right from left unless he stopped for a minute and held up his left hand. Kaze wasn't exactly the best tourguide either.

But the Thief Guild had no other quests that were suitable for them, and Kale knew that if they didn't take up another job, he would have to go pick-pocketting again.

"E-ehh…" Pymela looked around her, "What should we do? Turn back?"

"To tell the truth I don't think we even know where that 'back' is," Kale grinned sheepishly. In the worst situations there was the choice of using the butterfly wings that would automatically start up a teleport spell that would send them back to Prontera, but that was a mission failed, and as far as Kale remembered, they had never failed before. There was their ego to consider, apparently.

"This forest never used to be this way," Pymela sighed, "Last time we could pass through it without much difficulty, but lately all the routes have been twisted even merchants who have used this shortcut last time… it's almost as if something went wrong…"

_Why did we take this route then?_ Kale kept that question to himself, and instead asked, "If it's dangerous you should've tried another route…"

Pymela shook her head, "I promised my guild members I'd check out what went wrong."

Kale frowned at that. This girl was a Super Novice. It wasn't exactly an extremely strong job, and he highly doubted she would survive if anything went wrong. Surely that guild should have considered more.

"Hey," Kaze's voice stirred him from his thoughts pointing to a gap in the trees. "I think we haven't been through here yet."

"Well, worth a try then!" Kale motioned for Pymela to walk through first, before taking up the rear.

* * *

And in the end Life was just a game, with really simple rules.

You think for yourself, and only yourself; because when you can't save yourself, no one else will save you.

The person who decided that someone else was important would have an additional weakness to bother about.

And for the person who would throw away all calculations and precautions for someone else…

It meant game over.

* * *

Kale whistled, Kaze cursed, and Pymela squeaked so loud all the monsters within the clearing they had wandered into immediately turned to look at them.

"Ha…haha." Kale's mouth twitched upwards in an awkward smile, "What's this? A party?"

"They don't look like they're welcoming us though." Kaze snorted, and took a step so that Pymela was behind him. "What do we do?"

"We run." Kale's answer was definite. Sure, Kaze was a great fighter, but with so many things surrounding him, and only Kale and Pymela as battle companions, it was obvious which side has the upper hand. Sadly though, Kaze ignored those two simple words, and stepped forward, katars bared when the first monster came charging at him.

"OI!"

There were more than enough monsters to completely surround the Assassin. The remainder went charging towards Kale and Pymela. Never in his life had he ever seen such a mob, and judging by how Pymela was shaking, neither had she. His mind raced; Kaze was still in there, he could fight (and last about fifteen minutes approximately before his asthma kicked in); him and Pymela couldn't. Running around and dodging attacks was not going to work with such a big mob, and there was a shaking girl beside him.

The answer on what to do was obvious.

"Let's go back…" Pymela tugged on his arm, her face a mask of distress. He already had the butterfly wing in his hand, ready to brush a finger across it and let the powder fall onto the ground to trigger the teleport spell. He stabbed a monster that had come too close with a dagger, watching it fall to the ground, brought the wing up, and hesitated.

Kaze was still in there.

How long till he'd have difficulty breathing? Ten minutes? Would the idiot have the energy to teleport away when that happened?

Kale considered. Naaaah.

Pymela watched as his fingers paused, hovering over the wing. His escape route.

* * *

It wasn't like he didn't notice how it began. Perhaps if the Thief Guild hadn't found him, perhaps if he didn't steal Kaze's wallet, perhaps if fate didn't choose to dump them in a partnership, things would have been different.

He had lived off the streets for nearly ten years of his life; other kids were not friends or companions, but rather a threat. Sure, it seemed easier to survive when you worked in a group, but when you were in a group, what you earnt had to be split up. He was quick with his fingers and quick to run, but he knew better than anyone else that if anyone decided to pick a fight with him, he would lose. If he lost, the group could have their way with him. That was enough to make him stray away from the groups, and work alone.

Alone. Just like his mother had left him. The woman he had loved and trusted with all his heart; trusted so much that he had actually sat in the corner for three days, waiting and waiting and waiting.

When she didn't come back, he was naïve, and begged for help from the passersby on the streets. Grabbing them by the corners of their shirts, tugging at their hands. They kicked, shoved, did everything in their power to dislodge the load that had attached itself to them; or pretended not to notice. In less than one day he had learnt his lesson – these people wanted nothing to do with him. Nothing at all.

He had more or less given up by then. Every encounter with a person was a threat, no matter how nice they seemed. Nice people were only nice people given the right circumstances; you could have a moment of fun with them, but there was a limit to how much you should do for them, or how much you should trust them. His mother had left him behind, why would anyone else do different?

Why would Kaze do any different?

Sure, he was the first person to offer him help and assistance. The unwilling hand that held out a chicken leg to him with the encouragement of that pretty young lady – must've been his mother – behind him. But did that mean anything?

No.

The guy did have a tendency to just suddenly go missing, sometimes for hours, occasionally days. It never really mattered to him in the beginning – Kale simply ignored the missing person in the house – not until a few months had past. By then everytime he returned home to an empty house he would worry.

_Had he gone away? Was it finally time?_

Kale had his rules and ideas and his survival skills. He knew how he should avoid getting too close to anyone, just in case it would make him forget to keep himself safe. But he couldn't help it. He had tried, but when the situations came his usual logic and common sense would shut themselves down, and he would forget.

Almost like how he could laugh, unguarded. Truly happy.

* * *

She watched, half in amazement and half in horror as Kale shoved the butterfly wing back into his pocket,

"Don't fly off yet. We might just find the exit sometime soon. Move back further, those bushes behind should be safe." The dagger that he had slid back into his belt was pulled out again, and the Stalker sighed in defeat, "I always lose to that idiot."

* * *

"It's the exit!"

"Bless the Gods I think it is."

"_Finally._" Kale muttered under his breath as Pymela ran out first, out of the shade of the trees and into the bright sunshine.

She did a dance that involved spinning around so many times until she fell back, dizzy. "Even though I didn't find out what went wrong… just coming out _alive_ is such a blessing."

"It always is." Kale grinned in agreement. "To be alive, that is."

Pymela had bowed to them many times, even after handing them their payment, and was still bowing as she left.

They found a grassy spot beneath a tree to rest; Kaze flopping down onto his back almost immediately, his arms acting as his pillow. Kale sighed and squatted down beside him, fumbling with the catch on his waistpouch and pulling out a roll of bandages.

Kaze opened an eye to stare up at Kale. "What in the world are you doing."

Kale looked up from the mass of bandages he had managed to get his arms tangled in, trying to look dignified, "I'm bandaging up my arm."

A snort, "You call that bandaging?"

"Hey! You try bandaging an arm with one hand and see if you do any better!" He didn't really know what had bit him, or slashed at him, or cut him just now, but his arm was bleeding. Adrenaline had taken most of the sting out from the wound, and it had only started hurting a few minutes earlier, which made him realise he was actually dripping blood onto the ground.

"Whoa, how did you get that?" Kaze sat up, "Looks serious."

"Let's hope it isn't." Kale muttered grimly. He regretted it. Of course he regretted it. If he had flown off with the butterfly wing he wouldn't even have received a scratch. Still, he considered it a blessing that he had escaped only with this wide gash, and a few minor cuts in some other places. Things could have been worse.

They always could.

Kaze sat and watched him make the mess worse for a few minutes. "Oh nevermind, I'll help you with that. Never seen anyone bandage as badly as you do." He snatched the roll from Kale's hands, undid the rounds that were loose and untidy, then within a minute tucked the end of the roll into very neat bandaging. "Is it too tight?"

"Nah." Kale made his fingers curl into a fist slowly, and spread them again. It only hurt slightly, but he knew the pain would only be replaced by a dull ache tomorrow.

There was a slight pause, then Kaze reached into his cloak for a cigarette and lit it, taking a long inhale before blowing out a wreath of smoke, cloudy white. Kale watched the wisps unfurl, extending their whispery fingers to the air and grasping at something weakly – something that wasn't there – before vanishing. He continued watching. Every puff of smoke, the slight spark of red at the end of the cigarette butt…

_One day,_ he found himself thinking, _one day I'll never get to see this again._

It was a strange thought, and so he turned away from Kaze and his wispy clouds,

"Thanks."

He knew he was losing the game.

* * *

After-words:

This was more choppy than any of the other chapters. Though I kept up with the shortness of a chapter. Initially when I planned on rewriting this fic, I had wanted to lengthen the chapters... but upon trying I realised I wasn't able to do so all of a sudden. It's absurdly strange, but I guess all my edits are going to do now are to clear off typo errors and make the flow smoother. There will be a slightly long arc later, spanning three chapters... It was supposed to be Chapter 4, but I thought putting this (and the next) chapter up first would make it less "Huh?", since Kale undergoes his first huge change... -nods- (Okay, nuff spoilers.)

It's always easy to lay down rules for yourself, things that you tell yourself everyday just so you don't get hurt. Don't fall in love, don't believe that people actually will like you, don't get so happy at the smallest things…

It's not exactly easy to follow them.

Or so Kale realises. XD


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5  
****他人の気持ちを考えずに"守る"なんてそんな無責任なことを言うんじゃねえ！**

(_Don't say "I'll protect you" without considering someone else's feelings_)

"_Wait,"_

He still dreamt of it sometimes. In those dreams things seemed more real than they were when he remembered them in the day. In those dreams he could still feel the definite tug on his clothes; a tug that seemed to tug the life out of him and and bring a choking coldness to his throat.

_No. No no no no no…_

He could chant all he liked, but the him in those dreams would not have heard.

_Don't turn around, don't look back, don't stop…_

But he would, and behind him was a smile.

"_I'll go."_

A flash of red hair, a glimpse of a grin, a vague shadow slipping around the corner.

_WAIT._

Then he would have woken up, his breathing ragged, his brow drenched in cold sweat. And his nostrils could still smell the sharp metallic tinge of blood…

* * *

"So, can we go?" 

"Weeell… I don't really like that place," Kale started, but was immediately bowled over by a chain of pleading.

"Pleasepleasepleaseplease_please PRETTY PLEASE with a lot of zeny on top, Kale-nii?_"(1)

"I." Kale stopped in mid-sentence as the sparkly almond-brown puppy eyes shot beams of of 'Please' at him. He let out a sigh of defeat, "Only if Kaze says yes."

"Why not?" The answer was immediate, and Kale grumbled in annoyance.

"Oh great. You two just ganged up on me didn't you?"

The almond-brown eyes brightened even more – if that was even possible – and the younger boy grabbed the Falcon that was resting on his shoulders and did a little dance. Milky white hair flopped back into his eyes as the Sniper grinned up at them, "Thanks, Kaze-nii, Kale-nii"

The boy that stood in front of them was – in a way – their 'younger brother'. The kid had come across Kaze when he was chatting up some lovely ladies and had immediately cornered him the moment he was walking out of the café, falling onto his knees and begging him to pass down some of his ("amazing flirting") skills to him.

Kaze didn't really know how he could actually be teaching a young boy of thirteen this naïve and innocent skills to flirt girls up, but somehow giving in seemed to save a lot more trouble than attempting to reject him. From then onwards the kid launched himself at both him and Kale everytime he caught a glimpse of them on the street.

The falcon in his arms actually looked used to the boy's hyperactivity, which scared Kale, just a little bit – falcons being hugged, and not protesting, were afterall rather abnormal (they had to be) – "I'm warning you, I don't do good with the monsters up there, Jo."

"It's alright! I just need all the moral support I can get!"

"Moral support huh," Kale snorted. He had managed to lay his hands on a Fire Damascus a few weeks ago, using that small bit of allowance Kaze had allowed him. If normal daggers could not harm certain creatures, at least this one could, since it was blessed with the Fire Element melded into the steel. Still, Kale found himself rather at a loss when he was faced with monsters he would normally be unable to slash at.

Jo – as they had commonly called him – grinned, "The Hunter Guild requests I map out that small area of the Geffen tower, since lately a lot of our Clients want to visit that area. We don't really need to fight any monsters, I just need to run around and get a few details on the map."

"I'm warning you," Kale smirked, "Kaze and I aren't the best mappers around."

"More like the worst," Kaze added to that with a small smile.

"Tatsumagi here knows the directions well though," Jo gave his falcon an affectionate pat, "We'll do fine. I just thought it'd be horrendously boring if I went alone."

It wasn't an excuse, too. Though he didn't look at all like it, the younger boy had some of the sharpest eyes ever known to Kaze himself; every arrow hit right on target with precision, and the kid wasted no arrows. He wasn't calling on them to be his babysitters, nor his bodyguards. He was probably really truly bored.

"Come on We'll have great fun there! Some of the monsters there drop rather good things too, if we're lucky."

"Fun." Kale echoed darkly, before shrugging, "Whatever you say though. When are we going?"

"After lunch." Jo nodded.

"Your treat. Since we're accompanying you."

"EH!?"

* * *

It was a bright, warm day outside, but underground it was a completely different story. Tatsumagi had ruffled up his feathers, and Kale gave himself the allowance to let out a slight shudder. It was dark, too, since Jo had mentioned how barely anyone came down here lately, no one was that considerate to add torches to the walls of a path no one else walked. 

There were rumours of course, that there was a pathway going underground from Geffen's reknown Tower to the ancient city of Magicks, Geffenia. If tha was true, this was supposed to be the pathway. But ancient was ancient, and soon no one bothered to pay Geffenia much interest. The clients Jo had spoke of were more into enjoying the sense of mystery and danger in an abandoned place, rather than the actual history and culture of it.

Kale whistled, the sound bouncing off the walls eerily. "Sorry, I can't really see."

"Eeh… same here actually. Wait, wait, I brought a torch with me, I just can't… find it…" There were ruffling sounds, and Kaze blinked a few times so his eyes got used to the dark.

It was so easy, even though he had claimed to have left his old lifestyle behind him, to use the skills he had been brought up with. Smiling slightly, he reached over to Jo's belt and pulled out a small vial. "Looking for this?"

"Yes! Thanks, Kaze-nii!"

There was more fumbling, and Jo finally managed to get the vial uncorked, pouring a bit of the liquid within carefully onto a stick he had brought with him. There was a spark, and it beautifully caught fire.

"I can see!" Kale rejoiced.

Jo grinned, "Specially bought from the Alchemist guild. The stick too actually. Since I have to use both hands to draw arrows it's made so that even if I throw the torch to the ground, it will stay alight and not make anything else catch on fire."

"Useful."

"Mm-hm."

Jo held the torch in front of him, and they could vaguely make out the outline of the path's walls, glowing a soft amber, flickering slightly. "Let's go!"

* * *

"_I know it's stpuid. It's actually even rash, brainless, intolerable… but at least, at least I feel… I can protect you. That's all that matters now,"_

It was strange how people could be so stupid sometimes, so pent on throwing everything to one side just to protect another person.

So ready for sacrifice that they could even throw away their own lives.

It was strange how they never bothered to consider the feelings of the person they were trying to protect.

The person who – maybe, just maybe – wanted to protect them just as much.

Dying for someone who was important to you just as you were important to them wasn't protecting them…

It hurt them more.

* * *

The insides of his nose itched, and Kaze sniffed in an attempt to stop it. The air down here had a musty, dusty feel to it; and every single breath he took seemed to irritate both his throat and his nose more than the previous. Breathing through his nose made his nose itch more; breathing through his mouth made his throat hurt. He tried to stop his tongue from flicking at the back of his throat, an attempt to 'scratch' the itch away. It tended to make things worse for his throat, so he looked for something else to distract himself with. 

There was nothing much though. Jo and Kale walked ahead, the torch bared in front of them as they examined the walls of the path they were walking. There were strange words and engravings carved on them, but whilst they would have proved an interesting subject for observation to a Wizard or some Sage, they meant close to nothing to him.

He held in a cough, which made the back of his throat itch more.

"Waah What's this what's this!"

He looked ahead, almost eager for a better distraction.

Jo had his torch held up to what looked like a massive chamber, larger and wider, with a higher ceiling than the tunnels they had just been walking through. Kaze took a few more steps forward so he was behind the two younger boys, and squinted slightly so he could see beyond the small ring of visible objects, past the orange glow of the torchlight…

There were small structures that looked like the remains of pillars and other building structures. It didn't surprise him though; afterall this was where the ancient Geffenia had been, and it was usual for ancient civilizations to leave that small little mark. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a flicker of something, but before he could catch it, it was gone.

He frowned, and opened his mouth to alert Kale and Jo, but the Sniper was already within the chamber, the torch propped on the ground against the stump of a pillar as he opened the small notebook he kept with him and began to take notes.

By the time he saw the second flicker it was too late to do anything else.

"OI!!!"

Kale and Jo weren't idiots. By the time the small wisps of purple flames had burst upwards from the ground and taken the shape of a flickering horse, they had leapt away from a near-invisible sword that a pale, flickering wraith had slammed into the ground.

The young swordsman looked up from his sword, and gave it a harsh tug to dislodge it from the rock it had managed to get its point embedded into. He flickered, and his left eye burnt red. Red like the burning coals in a furnace.

"Doppelganger." Kaze cursed when it turned to face him, a wide smile making its face suddenly seem inhuman. "We'll meet later!" Was all he could manage as he took to the shadows and ran for it.

* * *

The moment he felt his windpipe tighten it was too late to regret anything. Of course he should have been more careful; his body had long given the warning signs that the air here wasn't exactly the most comfortable. The encounter with the Doppelganger had given him quite a bit of a shock – no matter how much he wanted to deny it – and running desperately when you could feel the breath of those ghostly horses on your neck wasn't exactly the best way to prevent an asthma attack from coming on. 

He managed a few glances over his shoulders as he slowed to a stop at a corner. There was no sign of the purple flames, nor the wraith of a swordsman that he knew he should avoid. Good. His fingers dug into the soft clay walls of the chamber as he sunk to the ground, trying to get his breath back.

His vision was already fuzzy, the limited amount of oxygen he was letting his body have was apparently not enough. _Great,_ he thought to himself, _The Doppelganger doesn't even need to finish me off. Any monster can appear now and I'm probably dead._

Despite how he wanted to just collapse on the floor and give up, the sounds of something approaching made him force himself to stand up again, the walls providing him with frail support.

"Kaze?"

Good. It wasn't a monster, just Kale.

The red-head approached him, slightly out of breath and grinning, "Thank god. I lost Jo on the way just now, I thought I wouldn't find you either…"

He wheezed. It was difficult to speak properly now, let alone mutter an insult about how Kale shouldn't be worrying about finding him. Afterall, whether he lost Jo or not-

Wait.

He could remember how Kale and Jo had leapt off in separate directions the moment he had yelled for them to scatter and run, so how could Kale 'lose'-…

His thought was cut off when something closed around his wrist and jerked him out of the way of a thrust from the dagger.

Kale 'tch'ed, and his image blurred for a moment.(2)

* * *

"Ok… so, this…" It was still difficult to speak, but he was recovering, just slightly. "This is the real you, right?" 

"Yes, you idiot." Kale fwapped him over the head. "That thing nearly got me just now too. Then I figured _you_ wouldn't have gotten so worried about me and stuck my dagger into your stomach. Thank god it wasn't you, really."

Kaze snorted, "You… just gave me, every reason, not to show you…" He coughed, "Any worry."

"Mmhm, you'd better not. I might think you were a monster and stab you to a bloody death." Kale leant against the wall and grinned at him, "You okay? You look like you're ready to die."

_Don't curse me, gaki._ Came the dark retort at the back of his mind, but his mouth gasped and said nothing else. Instead, Kaze wheezed.

"Oi…" Kale really looked worried by now, "You don't get them so bad usually."

"The… air."

Kale sniffed deliberately, "Okay. I'm sorry, I admit it; however good I am at smelling and distinguishing different types of food items with my nose, I have absolutely no idea what in the air has got to you." He shook his head slightly, "No, I mean… Take a few deep breaths, and calm down."

_I'm already doing that, gaki._ Taking in deep breaths weren't exactly the easiest thing to do when your windpipe was nearly closed tight.

"You brought your medication out today?"

He shook his head.

"Damn. I should've done that myse-" Kale bit on his tongue to keep silent as he stuck his head round the corner. When he spoke again, it was barely a whisper. "Great. I see the dude again, horses and all. He's heading this way."

Kaze groaned, partly because his head was still spinning, and partly also because his chances of surviving this were now close to zero.

"Kaze," Kale started, and turned to look at him. There was a strange expression on his face, one of internal conflict. The Stalker paused for a moment, scratched the back of his head in annoyance, then sighed one of his usual sighs of defeat, "Alright. I give up. Kaze, listen. You can listen right?" Kale placed a hand on his shoulder, eyes concerned.

_Naturally._ Came the voice, with an internal eye-roll. Kaze nodded though, in mid-wheeze.

"I'm going to go out first, and hopefully when that dude notices me, he's going to come for me first. There's just him and those stupid horses, so I should be able to dodge around a bit."

Strange.

"I know it's a little hard for you like that,"

Wait.

"But once you see he's occupied with me, _run out_. The exit's directly opposite you, okay? I'll hold him as long as I can, then I'll fly back or something. Yes, I know you don't have butterfly wings on you. I do, I have spares." He always carried sparess, "Don't waste any time,"

Stop, you idiot.

"I don't know how long I can hold him off, so…"

* * *

"_Mom…?"_

"_You stop right there, Kaze." She grinned, flicking a strand of red hair out of her face. "You don't think you're going to be able to handle all that people outside, surely?"_

"_You don't know until you try." His answer was indignant._

"_Silly boy." She laughed a bit, "They aren't people you can handle. I'll go, you stay here and wait, and once you get the chance to, Cloak and head out. Don't stop, don't turn back. I'll be fine. Once you're gone I'll run off too."_

"_But…"_

"_No buts." She was suddenly serious, "You are my son, and mine to protect."_

_When she didn't meet him where they had promised to meet, he disobeyed her instructions and turned back. _

_He remembered a colour of bright crimson; red that still had a certain deepness to it. _

_Like her hair…_

* * *

The silence that followed was almost deafening. Kale blinked a few times, his hand suspended in midair. Stinging. 

The back of Kaze's hand still hurt a little from hitting Kale's hand on his shoulder away. He coughed a few times, not caring how much sound he was making. He coughed and breathed in haphazardly until he gained enough energy.

"_DON'T KID WITH ME YOU GAKI!_ You? Handle that? Being the useless fighter you are?" His breathing was ragged, though he didn't know whether it was due to the asthma, or the sudden flame of rage that had spurted from within him. "Don't look down on me."

"Kaze, I'm not-"

He cut that sentence short, "Shut up."

Kale was not a person who shut up obediently. "What do you want to do then? Let that thing find us? So you can slash at it, being the graceful person you are when your asthma becomes a problem? Don't be stupid!"

"SHUT UP!"

"I _KNOW_ I'm a useless fighter, I don't need you to tell me that! But you in your current state? You're worst off than me, so just let me be, be sensible, and head off to the exi-"

"I don't need…" Breathing was difficult again, after that sudden outburst. "I don't need you to protect me."

_Not you too. _

…_Please._

But Kale, being Kale, stuck his tongue out at what he said, grabbed the dagger at his side, and ran out. Making an awful din while he did, his footfalls sounding louder than they usually did. "Just stop whining and head for the exit, idiot!" The Nightmares came at him, he dodged them carelessly, the Fire Damascus in his hands scraping them slightly on the sides, just to attract their attention. Kale wasn't a person who could fight, anyway. (Most of the times, he annoyed monsters, dodged their attacks, grabbed the things he needed, then ran and dragged an entire mob to Kaze, happily demanding help.)

What annoyed Kaze more than the fact that Kale was doing something stupid, was that the Stalker was doing something he wouldn't usually do. It confused him, watching Kale as he dodged the Doppelganger - now looking like some Swordsman - as it came flying at him with its sword, that Kale was actually risking his life (for god's sake the kid hated even wasting five minutes on _anything_, unless he got something decent out of it) for him.

There was a muffled shout. Kale was thrown backwards, crashing into a nearby wall but shaking himself free of the debris and stumbling to one side. The Doppelganger, seeing that his target was not yet dead, followed. Before his foggy vision, there was the exit. To his left, somewhere further off, there were the sounds of crashing, falling, and metal clanging against metal as Kale fought what Kaze knew was a losing battle.

What if Kale died before he reached the exit? What if Kale didn't know he reached the exit? What if, by the time he reached the exit, it was too late to fly off anymore? What... if...

_Red. Bright red. The flashing scene of blood mingled with rainwater._

Kaze cursed, grabbed his katars, and with the choking mass of tangles in his chest, ran forward.

* * *

"OW! Oi! Lighter!!!" 

Kaze was dabbing at the open gash in Kale's cheek. Without mercy.

"KAZE! _It hurts._"

"Serves you right for being an idiot." Jab.

"ITE-"(3)

Even the plaster was pressed on with a vengeance. Kaze glared as he shoved a bowl of soup as Kale, "Minor cuts and grazes all over the body, a dislocated shoulder, two broken rib bones, at least three wide gashes namely on the right arm, chest, and left thigh. _What have you to say, gaki._"

"Uh," Kale grinned sheepishly, "At least I can still walk?"

Kaze knocked him across the head.

"HEY. You got injured too!"

"Yea, a sprained left arm. ONLY."

"Pfft, you're still injured."

"I'll heal faster than you will."

"Hah! Wanna bet?"

"… it's obvious, you idiot."

"…damn."

Sometimes Kaze would question himself – what if Jo hadn't been quick enough to Alert the Hunter Gulid? What if the other Hunters and Snipers hadn't arrived on time?

By then he knew it was a stupid question, because the answer was simple.

He would have lost someone, again.

* * *

After-words: 

1. attaching "-nii" to the end of a name is an affectionate, friendly way of calling someone "older brother".

2. Doppelgangers (at least, the ones outside RO) are known to be able to change their shape and form to take the appearance of someone else.

3. Itee is the more rough, boyish, informal way of saying "Itai", which means (literally) "painful" in Japanese. In other words, if we were to use one word as a sentence, it means "It hurts". XD

It's always easy to say you'd protect someone. It's not that easy to remember that the person being protected might not always want it to be that way. Sometimes, it's an irresponsibility. Or so Hika feels.

WTF THIS WAS HARD. -starts crying- For one thing I still have nooooo idea how Kaze really thinks. All I have are the little notes Minou vaguely illustrated in a few pages of Microsoft Word. I had to change the viewpoint character too, which was once again a pain in the arse. And then by the time I realised it, I was past my eight-page limit…

And yes, the initial story had an eight-page limit. (My friends were too lazy to read any of my stuff when they saw more than 13 pages in Microsoft Word.) I'm regretting the fact that I didn't throw in the battle scene for the sake of it, because by now I forgot what I had initially intended it to be like.

Gah.

Anyway. My sad, sad, sad attempt.

And for any of the really observant people, YES THIS IS A PAIR TO KALE'S CHAPTER 4!!! Notice the similar choppy structure? -is killed-


	6. Chapter 6

**The Hika Blabs :: **

Here we finally move on to a rare part of Stray, in which the storyline spans three chapters. Three, when it could have been one, because I wanted to keep up my initial eight-page limit on Microsoft Word (in other words, not bore everyone out by shoving at them something too long.) It starts getting rather strange here, because Hika let go of her amazingly wild imagination, and made things up without regard to the things that happen in the game. Please bear with me while I do.

This chapter also marks a rather serious change in Kale's personality. Please don't be too shocked, though I hope that the previous chapters explained enough for readers to understand this change... I hope.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 6****  
なぁ　もしオレが死んだら　　どうするの？**

(_What would you do if I died?_)**  
**

"Naa,"

It was a question that came out of nowhere suddenly, over breakfast.

"What would you do if I died?"

"Huh?" Kale looked up from his toast to study Kaze's face. It looked serious alright, but he himself found the question hard to understand. "What's with you all of a sudden?" He cracked into a grin, "Don't tell me you're intending on dying or anything?"

Kaze snorted a bit, smiling slightly. "Nah. I just thought I'd ask." He drank from his cup of coffee, a long sip, before looking back at Kale, expecting an answer. "So?"

"Truthfully?"

"Truthfully." What was the point if it was one of the usual lies again?

Kale tapped his chin as he considered for a while. "Well. I guess it would be obvious. I would definitely…!" He paused for relish. "Loot your corpse and take all your money with me." It was an extremely serious answer.

He didn't really know whether it was an illusion or not when he thought he saw Kaze's shoulders drop a bit.

* * *

"Ehehe... Sorry I had to ask you guys out to help…"

The High Priestess bowed to both of them as they met her at Umbala. "One of my clients wanted me to set up a teleport spell to Niffleheim, you see… I heard from a friend that there was supposed to be a shortcut to it, located here. It'd be faster with two more people!"

"Naturally," Kale grinned, "But perhaps you should've gotten a search party instead. Seriously, we probably can't cover the entire village in one day. Though of course, it's always a pleasure to help someone like you, so I'm going to stop complaining now."

"Oh stop that." The girl fwapped Kale on the back, "We've known each other for so long you should stop talking to me like you just met me off the street."

"Aye, Kotone-sama!" Kale saluted.

"Where do we start?"

Kotone answered to Kaze's question with a flash of a map. "Tada! Rumours have said it was somewhere around this area here…" She pointed to where she had enclosed an area in a large red circle. "We can start searching from there today, I guess."

"Mm, okay." Kaze nodded, and began walking off in one direction. "The usual? Give a shout if you find something?"

"As usual! I'll catch you guys later then!" Kale ran off in the other direction.

Kotone smiled slightly before turning away. "Alright. Let's go."

* * *

"OIIII!!!"

It took a while for Kotone and Kaze to arrive at where Kale was standing – a platform raised many feet above what looked like a very deep plunge pool of a waterfall, though there was none of the sort nearby.

"What? Have you found anything?"

"Actually," Kale grinned, pointing down to the plunge pool. "I think this small guy here is trying to tell me this is actually a place for you to jump down there. Anyone confirm that for me?"

The small guy he referred to was one of the natives of the village. No one could understand what he was saying, and he didn't seem to comprehend their language either. He just looked very happy, jumped up and down on the spot a few times, then pointed excitedly to the pool below them.

Kotone scratched her head, "I do think that's what he's saying."

Kale looked down. "Whoo." He whistled, "That's a pretty sheer drop. You sure we won't die?"

The way he looked at the small native of Umbala seemed to make him understand what he was saying. The young man then babbled more in his foreign tongue, both hands crossing over each other to form an "X".

"I think he says it's safe." Kotone straightened up and looked down. "Actually it looks quite fun."

Kale laughed nervously, "You are kidding me. How can something like this look fun?"

"I hear a coward," Kaze snickered.

"Hey!" Kale punched him on the shoulder halfheartedly, "Come on, reality check, the guy doesn't look like he's going to put us in a safety harness or anything. How'd you know the pool down there isn't a shallow pond with rocks at the bottom for you to bash your head on?"

Kotone scratched her head. "Well." She smiled the bright smile of a High Priestress, "You never know till you try!"

"OI!"

"Wait."

Kotone blinked at Kaze, who was the one who put an arm in front of her to stop her from jumping off. Kale had already backed off a few steps.

"I'll jump first. Can't let a lady jump off before me huh." Kaze grinned slightly, looking down. "This looks exciting."

"Kaze! You idiot, you aren't going to jump down like that. You'll wet your clothes and catch a cold! Or to be precise you shouldn't even consider jumping down naked, this is just not safe. _THINK_ you IMBECILE."

Kaze only stuck a tongue out at Kale. The Stalker frowned and narrowed his eyes before crossing both his arms,

"_Fine, _be like that. If you die it's not my fault."

Kaze only smiled at that comment, before taking the step off the platform.

Kotone watched in awe.

There was a splash.

"Ooh, me next!" The girl grinned and jumped off.

"OI!"

Kale sighed in defeat when she disappeared off the edge with a "Whoop". Why didn't these people consider how they were going to be getting their clothes wet? He muttered something to himself under his breath, and sat down, frowning and pouting, ignoring the native who was apparently asking him to try as well.

Kotone came up the platform after a few minutes, soaked completely from head to toe. "You know, I seriously think I just destroyed my bible." She giggled as she pulled out the thick worn out book, now thoroughly soaked, from the pocket under her skirt. "That was fun, seriously. Kale-chan! You oughta try too!"

"No thanks," Kale smiled thinly. Jumping off the edge of a platform this high just didn't total up to a happy ending, according to his calculations.

"Well, I was thinking of going again" The girl hummed to herself, brushing a stray strand of honey-brown out of her eyes.

"Oh good lord." Kale chuckled a bit, "Don't forget why we're here."

The young girl made a face, "Gah. Stupid quests. Always in my way of having fun." She blinked for a moment, then looked around, her dark brown eyes wide and confused.

Kale understood almost immediately, and asked before she could, "Where's Kaze?"

"I… I don't know." Kotone frowned, "I thought he already came up to have another go."

There was a cold sinking feeling in him, it started in his chest and dropped downward, extending its tendrils to his limbs and casting a shudder up his spine. It made him jump up and look around; the platform gave a great view of the entire village, but there was no sign of Kaze. This wasn't right, Kaze would have wanted to come up, triumphant and mocking about how Kale had been a complete chicken to not have tried such a fun thing. He took the girl by the shoulders, "You didn't see him just now?"

"No…" All the excitement had drained from her face by now, and it was a shade paler than it used to be.

Kale took in a deep breath to steady himself. No, he wasn't going to think like that, that was the pessimistic way, and he was probably cursing Kaze if he thought like this. This was either a joke, or Kotone was too excited and didn't see the guy when he first came out. Yes, that had to be it. "You're not joking with me right? Kaze's actually just Cloaked and waiting for me to get nervous and then both of you are going to have a good laugh about it, right?"

The ghastly white of Kotone's face seemed to real to be faked though, as she shook her head slowly. "No, really… I didn't…"

A curse word, and following it a chain of even more vulgar words. "God damn that idiot." Kale pulled off his coat, detatched both daggers(1) from his belt, and jumped into the pool.

The native didn't understand why Kotone covered her face with both hands and started to pray.

* * *

Kotone sat by the shore and watched as Kale surfaced for a breath and went under again; once, twice, thrice… She stopped counting after a while, and instead turned to two of the villagers with sign language to explain what had happened. Minutes later many little row boats were sent out into the pool.

By the time the sun set most of the boats had returned, every little brown man shaking his head sadly – a gesture that required no translation. Kotone gripped the bible as they left, one by one; it was still moist, and she gripped it so tightly she actually managed to squeeze a few droplets out of it. One drop, two drops, three…

Kale broke the surface of the water again, panting.

Kotone clutched the bible tighter, "Anything?"

"…no."

_No._

"This isn't right… nothing happened to me… I was perfectly fine, I… He definitely didn't…" Her voice broke halfway, and she found it hard to swallow.

Kale's face was pained as he swam to shore and pulled himself out. "The idiot could swim, so it couldn't be that."

_It must've been the jump._

Why didn't I stop him? I should've launched myself at him and grabbed at him and made sure he didn't jump… why didn't I stop him? Why did I sit there like a spoiled brat and sulk?

He felt like jumping back down and smashing his head against the rocks five meters below the water surface.

Kotone closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again she picked up the coat Kale had discarded previously and draped it over his shoulders. She had to be stronger. She had known both of them from a Quest they had done about a few months ago. A few months only. Kale would hurt more with something like this, she couldn't afford to deny him that bit of strength she could offer. "You'll catch a cold."

"It's alright, I'm going down again anyway."

"But,"

Kotone stopped in midsentence when Kale turned his back to her. The setting sun was directly shining into her eyes, and she had to squint slightly. "Kale-chan, are you…"

_Crying?_

"You know, the ironic thing about this?" His voice was hollow, "He asked me some other random day what I'd do if he died…"

"H-he might not be!" Kotone searched for a valid excuse, "Hey, maybe he went up to look for us when we went down? Maybe he went back home, and he's waiting…"

Kale cut her off, "I said I'd take all the money off him."

He laughed, a bitter laugh that was meant to be self-mocking. "There's not even a corpse, where do I get the money from?"

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his arm. "Sorry, I just thought…" His voice cracked then, and she didn't know whether the trembles that came later was from laughter or tears.

Kotone forced herself not to cry with him, (or laugh with him, if he really was; though that would make her highly doubt his sanity) "I'll go back to Prontera and check. He might be back already…"

"Yea, tell me when you do find him."

_If you do find him._

He sighed and threw the coat off again, "Whoa, cold. I'll head back in then…" He didn't wait for her reply, and jumped back into the pool.

* * *

In a realistic, objective point of view, his answer had been feasible. Kale didn't understand why panic and pain washed over him first. To be precise, it had been ages since he had felt such a strong sense of loss, and he had never thought he would ever experience it again, either. He didn't expect Kaze to go jumping off a platform and just die. Any death of the silver-grey-haired Assassin seemed to be of a more realistic, normal type.

The guy dies of asthma.

Or on one of those quests, mauled by a monster.

Or maybe even because he angered some random person on the street, who would have stuck a knife into him. Or some other weapon of choice.

Kale never bothered to explain this, but if any of that had happened he would've done everything in his power to keep the guy alive anyway.

He wouldn't let him die.

So in the end Kaze probably had to die a natural death, maybe a peaceful one. And _then_ he would take all the money off the dead body and will himself to have the strength to live on.

"_What would you do if I died?"_

Stupid Kaze. Stupid question. There was no context was it? What type of death? He never said. He never asked another question so Kale could explain.

I won't let you die, idiot.

* * *

He didn't know how long he had spent in the pool beneath the platform, but by the time he decided any longer and he would probably die with Kaze and hauled himself out, his surroundings were already dark and the moon a white crescent in the sky.

Kotone was there, waiting.

He didn't need to ask her for an answer, he just had to read her expression. And by then, it required too much energy to curse and shout and flail and punch the ground, no matter how much he wanted to. His eyes felt watery, perhaps because they were in the water for so long, struggling to keep open so he could make sure he checked every single crevice.

She was saying something, but he couldn't really hear her. He collapsed onto the grass, the ground was warm but the droplets of dew that had collected on them were cool like prickly pins.

_I won't… I won't… god be damned I won't…_

It was almost like a silent prayer as he felt his eyes go heavy.

* * *

1. I thought it'd be cooler if Kale used double daggers. -sobs- Why doesn't the game let the Stalker job take up double-daggers?! -grumblegrumble-

More after-words:

W T F. XD

What is this. _What is this._

I have no idea. (You are the writer, damn you.)

I had long envisioned writing this chapter _long LONG_ before I started writing the entire series. Kale was a little strange (such a big contrast to the previous chapters!), but since this is a collection of clippings you _really_ have to imagine what happened between the different chapters… And well, assume that their friendship has developed even when I didn't write about it. (Isn't this the true, realistic thing that happens often? It's not a one-event "OMG I think I'm in love" process. Most of the time it's a slow gradual shift you never realise until it's too late.)

SO. The context for this? They've been working together for quite a while by now. They might not actually _admit_ it, but they're extremely close friends.

This will be the first part of the three-chapter-arc (the longest continued... thing within Stray), so read on!

(and no, Kaze is not dead. Sorta. I assure you there will be explanations next chapter.)


	7. Chapter 7

**The Hika Blabs :: **

Alright. This is where things start getting a bit... strange. Don't worry, I try to explain myself at the end of this chapter, so if you're confused, please just read my notes... If you're still confused... well. I don't know, I can't help you then. It's my fault. I apologize in advance. This is the 'in-the-middle' chapter, where Hika takes the chance to Explain Things.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 7****  
信じて待つだけで　何ができるんだよ**

(_Just believing and waiting won't do anything_)**  
**

_There was a door in the water. Waving, waving; like most things in the water did._

_At least, it looked like a door. He didn't really want to go to the door, but the door seemed to think otherwise. It pulled him toward itself, calling, calling…_

_He floated towards it._

_Strange. He didn't want to go there, yet at the same time he couldn't turn around and swim in the other direction._

_The door seemed to grow larger. _

_No, wait, he was just moving closer. _

_Larger and larger and larger, a mouth of shadow, agape._

'_Wait…'_

_The shadow seemed to swallow him._

'_I don't belong there.'_

* * *

Kale awoke to the smell of breakfast. Not the usual smell of the usual breakfast Kaze tended to make for him. That had a tendency to be toast. Maybe omelette or scrambled eggs if he was in a good mood. Occasionally there was fried bacon when he really felt like giving him a treat.

He sat up on the bed and rubbed his eyes wearily. Strange, they felt so swollen, it was almost a chore to open them properly. It was only then did he realise he wasn't in his room. He yawned, and struggled to drag a body that would not listen to him out of bed. When in the world were his muscles aching this much? It was almost as if he had done vigorous exercise for at least four hours non-stop…

"Kale-chan?" Kotone poked her head into the room, "Aa, you're awake. Thank god. Want to have some breakfast?"

Her smile was overly bright, her tone was overly happy. He frowned slightly; why? It was almost as if something bad had happened…

It hit him the moment he searched in his memory. It was almost like in the dramas when he fell back so he could sit on the bed; a temporary loss of strength.

Oh. Right.

Kotone's smile was immediately replaced with a worried look, "Actually I have some information, but I thought we'd talk over breakfast… can you…" She trailed off.

Kale nodded and grinned, "Yea, breakfast sounds good." He forced himself to stand up.

Moping won't do anything.

"So, the news?"

Kotone smiled slightly, a small smile. "I talked to my friend Atsuki yesterday when I came back to Prontera… she told me something I thought you would want to know…"

"What?" He was more impatient than usual. Was it good news? Bad news? Useful news? Useless but good to know news?

Kotone's smile was still there, a small smile, but Kale found it more comfortable than the bright beam she had tried to put on earlier. "I called her over so we could talk over breakfast."

Atsuki was a High Wizard of the Wizard guild; one could easily see from her clothes, the furred coat and the silk bodice, trimmed with an intricate gold border. She had her nose in a book thicker than Kotone's bible, and only raised her head to look when Kale pulled out a chair.

Atsuki smiled. She was a charming young lady, with dark brown hair that fell to her waist in luxurious curls. She took off the pair of reading glasses and pushed a plate of sandwiches over to Kale. "I already had some. It tastes great."

"Thanks," Kale managed a grin. He _was_ hungry afterall, and no matter what his loss was, he wasn't the type that believed in starving himself to mourn for it. You needed energy to face a loss, and not eating didn't make things better. He bit into the sandwich, his mouth glad for the taste of something solid, not just the bland stench of water.

"I was doing some extra research on Niffleheim, actually…" Atsuki started, "I'm the one who asked Kotone to help me set up a teleport point there, since that place is a place that constantly interests me. It's supposed to be the City of the Dead, right? But not all dead go there and all that…" She flipped her book to a page marked by a bookmark, "That pool in Umbala _used_ to have a portal that went directly to Niffleheim. At least, in ancient manuscripts it had been marked like that."

Kale did not understand. "Uhm. Wait. Can you put it into simpler terms? Simple?"

Atsuki frowned for a moment, as if trying to find the simplest summary she could think of. "Kaze could have found his way into Niffleheim."

"Oh." Now that made so much more sense. "So he's alive, right?"

It was almost as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Not… quite…"

Atsuki dumped the weight back.

"What do you mean _'not quite'_?!"

"Well, because the portal is the 'usual way' of getting into Niffleheim, unlike the 'unusual' way which requires a whole lot more walking and searching… You've got to be dead to get there."

"But you just said he wasn't dead!" Kale paused, "Wait, no. You just said something along the lines that he was still alive."

"Well… Kaze didn't _die_, but because he entered the portal into Niffleheim, it is considered that he's dead."

"So is he dead or not?" Kale frowned, "Because if he's alive then we need to get him out of there. _Is he dead?_"

Atsuki sighed. This would take a while.

* * *

"Kale-chan… don't you think you should really consider waiting for the search party?"

"Nah. What's the point? I'm about as good as any search party." Kale grinned into the blue gem that Kotone had given him. Atsuki had it magicked so they could still communicate over long distances. "Alright, I'm where all the trees are, where next?"

Kotone's voice was slightly fuzzy over the magical-transmitter-device, "But even Atsuki had said so! It's dangerous, and you might get lost!"

"But you have the map in front of you."

"I… I do, but… You could have just waited a bit…"

"Nah. Waiting won't do anything. Come on, the instructions."

There was a sigh from the other end. "Oh alright. If that's what you say…"

"Good girl. Left turn?"

"Right."

* * *

_He awoke to darkness. There was a spider web hanging so close to his face he could feel its wispy touch against his nose when he breathed in. He swiped at it, and frowned when it only moved a little, as if there was only a little breeze._

_He swiped at it again._

_Once more, the spider web barely wavered._

_Annoyed, he sat up directly and felt the spider web pass through his face._

"… _what in the world." Where was he, anyway?_

_The room he was in looked like an inn, dimly lit by a few flickering candles on the wall, their flames pale and wispy like the spiderweb. He frowned. It didn't look familiar at all, yet at the same time he couldn't really recall what was familiar…_

"_Aah, I see you've awaken."_

_He turned to see a young woman enter his room, on her lips the ghost of a smile. A frown, "Who are you."_

"_Myssa. And you?"_

"_Kaze."_

"_I see you still recall the name. Came here through the watery door huh?"_

"_I don't understand what you're talking about…"_

_Myssa smiled at him with her bright red eyes. "The other residents here don't remember anything, even their names, when they come. Only those who came through the watery door remember that. But that's all you will remember I think, Kaze."_

_He blinked at her, "What do you mean? I remember…"_

_Remember what?_

_Myssa smiled knowingly, "…Nothing?" She suggested for an answer. "Welcome to Niffleheim, Kaze."_

* * *

"Okay, Kotone. Remind me about why I am doing this again."

Kotone giggled from the other side of the blue gem, and recited, "Because Kaze is not only your parter, but also an idiot who is probably hopeless at saving himself." That was what Kale had told her at least five times before. After the five times she had been in charge of repeating it to him, with her own little additions, "And he is also your closest friend whom you really really like."

"No he isn't." Kale retorted stubbornly, releasing his grip on the makeshift ladder made of a tree's vines. "Oh god, please don't tell me there's more."

"We're nearly there " Kotone comforted him, "Sort of."

"I am not feeling happy." Kale grimaced as he nearly slid and fell against the smooth bark of the tree he somehow found himself on. In front of him was a maze of tree roots – the only bridges across what looked like murky water.

"No fear, Kotone's here! With the map." Kotone's voice sounded cheerful, "Alright, now you take the top most root."

"What the heck is the 'topmost'…" Kale muttered, but reluctantly followed Kotone's instructions in order to find the 'topmost' root. "This has been the longest walk of my life."

"Let's talk more while you're at it, there's still quite a bit!"

"Agh."

* * *

_The residents of Niffleheim remember nothing. Most of them didn't even remember their names, and instead were named after things that stood out about them._

_The little girl that had run through him was called Littlemouth because her mouth was exceedingly small. There were quite a large number of kids in the City of the Dead, and now, even though they couldn't even touch each other, were enjoying a game of tag._

_Kaze walked back into the inn._

"_How was your walk?" Myssa greeted him with her usual smile._

"_Strange."_

_She caught the look on his face, and frowned. "You are dead, you know. And the dead of Niffleheim don't remember, so stop trying."_

_He smiled at that, "I don't know why… there's this nagging feeling that I should be remembering."_

"_But there is no point. There is no point in remembering."_

"_Perhaps."_

* * *

"I'm here."

Kotone let out a long sigh, "Thank god."

"Hey, hey Don't relax yet. The hard part has just begun, right?"

"That's what Atsuki said."

"I always love challenges." Kale rolled his eyes and cast them to the gates of Niffleheim. Tall, looming black iron gates, one of which was missing a hinge, and lay crooked with an edge embedded in the rocky ground. Kale pushed the other gate until he could squeeze through.

"So. This is the 'wrong' way of entering, huh."

"Yes, apparently by doing so, you're still considered alive. A lot of explorers and researchers enter this way. The 'right' way of entering is by dying, and then you apparently get automatically sent to this area. Then there's the 'sort of right' way of entering, which Kaze apparently stumbled on."

"Which means he's alive, but they made him dead."

"Something like that."

"I find it terribly hard to comprehend." Kale sighed. "But well, since he's not supposed to be dead, and there was some mistake, looks like it's up to me huh."

Kotone sounded worried again, "Are you sure-"

"Yes. I'll call for you later once I've met up with him. Don't wanna make too much noise now." Kale slid a finger across the gem and watched as it grew dim. He stuffed it into a pocket and looked around him. This place looked like one of those places you saw in Ghost Stories for Children, or something like that.

"Ok. The difficult part. Finding him." Kale sighed, "This should be easy, unless I can't see the dead."

Far off in the distance, he could hear children singing a song. That meant that he could hear them, which raised the possibility of being able to see them. He took in a deep breath – musty swampy air – and cleared his mind for a moment. Not that he needed to clear it much. Ever since Kaze had jumped off it was pretty much empty.

It was okay though. Kaze wasn't dead. Kaze wasn't dead, there was just a mistake…

Yet what Atsuki had told him didn't make him feel any better.

_"I'm warning you. He might not remember."_

* * *

After-words:

OOPS. Yes, I know it's starting to get weird. I know this doesn't happen in RO. But er, it does in Hika-imagination! xD

I know this is a difficult concept, but let's just put it this way.

1. Dead people die and their souls get sent to Niffleheim. Not all dead people get sent here, only _some_ who have a certain special trait/condition. Find out what that is next chapter.

2. The dead people whose souls were sent to Niffleheim don't remember anything, and will never remember anything.

3. People who have not died, and entered Niffleheim through the portal in the water in Umbala, would have travelled there IN FULL BODY. Not just the soul, but they would have forgotten everything else except a name, and by forgetting, they will be considered dead, and will gain the body of a ghost.

I'm sorry. This is absolutely NOT TRUE of Niffleheim in RO. I made it up cus I thought it'd be fun. -smiles and gets killed-


	8. Chapter 8

**The Hika Blabs ::**

Yay! The final part of the three-part little death-arc! In which Kale demonstrates his amazing ability to be firmly stubborn and childish! -applauses-

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 8  
****帰ろう　　　　　バカ**

(_Let's go back, baka..._)**  
**

Kale knew how the horror stories usually went. People ran away from the risen undead in horror, screaming "EEK! It's dead!" He didn't know whether he should have laughed or cried when the young dead children in the village square caught a glimpse of him and ran away screaming, "EEK! It's ALIVE!!!"

He scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward. He had never really terrorized kids like this. And he had been wanting to ask them if they had seen Kaze or anything. They were slightly translucent, and the colour of their images were more faded than usual, but at least he saw them.

And apparently they saw him.

He debated on whether he should give chase, but then that would definitely terrorize the little kids more, and well, untrue to popular belief, he didn't really see the point in frightening younger children.

One of the kids returned though, hidden behind the skirts of a young woman, "Myssa Myssa!!! He's ALIVE!!!" Jab jab point point.

Kale considered how to react. He decided that dead pretty women shared only one difference with pretty women – they were dead – and smiled, "Uh, hi. I'm here to look for someone, actually."

"HE SPOKE!!!" The child wailed and ran.

Kale felt his smile twitch a bit. Myssa looked at him warily, her bright red eyes more cautious than welcoming, "We don't get live visitors often nowadays."

_I don't want to be here either._ Heck, he didn't even enjoy getting here. He made a mental note to give Kaze a punch when he met him, just for putting him through all this. "Well, judging from how hard it is to get here, I can understand why. Uhm, hey, actually I'm here to look for someone. You see, there's been a mistake somehow, and while he's supposed to be alive, he… sorta, died."

That did not make sense.

Myssa kept quiet, still staring at him. Hard. Almost with a vengeance, though Kale couldn't really understand why she would hate him. Or dislike him. Maybe it was because he was alive.

"So uh, I thought I'd ask around. You know a Kaze?"

Myssa jerked, almost uncomfortably, and closed her eyes for a moment. Kale made sure he stared at her, willing her not to lie; not to lie, please, and for her to know.

"Come with me."

"You know where he is?"

Myssa didn't answer, but ushered the child away and walked off in a direction, her figure flickering lightly under the dim orange lighting of Niffleheim.

* * *

'_Will he come?'_

_The question seemed to pop out of no where, when he was staring out of the window so dusty and cracked what was outside could barely be seen. _

_Myssa was in charge of the inn, and she gave him a room to stay. It wasn't exactly a luxurious hotel suite – there were still the cobwebs and dusty windowsills, and the bed looked like it was home to many species of bugs – but when your body simply just floated a few centimeters above them, or passed through them, it didn't matter anymore._

_He blinked and shrugged. He didn't even know who 'he' was. He tried to remember, and a few images came and went; images that didn't seem to spark any memories. Rain, the colour of red, smoke… Then they were gone before he could catch them and sort through them, and it didn't matter anymore._

* * *

"I would offer you some soup," Myssa started, "But while there are ingredients I think you'd sooner spit them out than swallow."

"I'm fine, really." Actually he was starving, but then the dead didn't eat, and he didn't know what was Myssa going to produce for him if he actually asked. Then again, while he couldn't touch her, she didn't seem to be able to touch anything solid either, so he didn't know how she was going to cook. Now he only had to pray that his stomach would not make any sounds to give him away. "So, uhm… Where's Kaze?"

Myssa motioned for him to take a seat instead of answering his question, and he sat where she motioned, just to be polite. He was apparently in an inn; a rather run down one, but nevertheless an inn.

"Your name?"

"Kale." He replied as a reflex, without really thinking why he had replied, or why should he reply. He shrugged, a name could do nothing.

"What else do you remember?"

"Are you checking if I'm dead? Because if you are I can move something for you, I'm perfectly solid." To proove his point, he knocked on the table top with a grin.

Myssa smiled a small smile, "That's true. Why are you here?"

"To find Kaze."

She shook her head slightly, sad, "The dead cannot be brought back to life. You should get over your loss and head back."

"But he isn't dead." A pause, "Well, okay, he's dead, but he wasn't supposed to be." Kale frowned, trying to remember what Atsuki had said to him. He only remembered a whole lot of different theories and difficult words. "There was a mistake."

"And what makes you so sure it was?"

"There was no corpse. I searched for at least four hours in that damned pool. If he was dead, he'd left his corpse behind and came here as a ghost." Or something. He was actually making it up as he went; Atsuki's theories didn't seem to exist in his head now.

Myssa seemed to be convinced though, and Kale said 'pah' to Atsuki's confusing theories. "There is a Kaze, he arrived here yesterday actually."

"Exactly when he decided to make the biggest mistake of his life, spanning only eighteen years."

"He doesn't remember anything though."

"You know his name, he remembers that." It was a start.

"But nothing else," Myssa persisted. "As do all of us."

It was as Atsuki said, apparently. Kale felt part of him give up. The other part spoke up, "I'll make him."

Myssa looked at him with those red eyes of hers. So sad, yet at the same time so muted of emotions; it was such a strange conflict she held within them. "Why are you here? Mistake or not he is dead."

"No, he's not dead. He's… supposingly dead because he stumbled into that stupid portal. Which means that he's alive, just… fake dead. If I leave him here he'll be dead won't he?" Kale was growing more uncertain of his logic the more Myssa asked. It was true, in a way, how it seemed like he was fighting what was meant to be. If Kaze was supposed to be dead, then he should be…

_AGH NO, HE'S NOT DEAD._

"Why?"

"Because," Kale started, "Because."

Myssa inclined her head.

Because what? Kale realised that appealing to logic wouldn't help him much now; simply because it was hard to apply logic to such matters. Instead, he said it to her face,

"Because he doesn't belong here and I want to take him back."

Myssa chuckled, and soon broke into laughter. It was strange laughter, hollow at the same time. "You are very like a kid."

"Kaze calls me one."

_Gaki actually. But in every context it still means a kid._

"Stubborn and ignoring all rules too." Myssa stopped laughing, "But often it is that kids have a better heart than adults who know more."

"The more you know, the more you lose." Kale shrugged, "Or something like that. I'm not stupid though."

"This lost one is a lucky one then," Myssa took a few flickering steps over to the stairwell. "I will let you try then, young one."

Kale grinned, "Not much younger than you, actually."

Myssa smiled, "I keep the looks of when I died. But that on its own has been decades. In many ways I am older."

"Aah, but so long as you're young at heart!"

"The little kid has a way with his tongue, I see."

Kale laughed, "Oh, many say that about me."

* * *

It was strange to see Kaze without a cigarette. Okay, so that wasn't exactly the strangest thing about him; it was even stranger to see him staring out of a window so blankly, flickering slightly and see-through so Kale could actually see the windowsill he was sitting on. It was such a strange sight Kale froze at the doorway, unsure of what to do or say. Myssa was behind him, watching him with those red eyes of hers.

It was probably a minute later when he regained control of his limbs and his tongue. "Kaze,"

Kaze turned from the windowsill, a frown flickering across his features when he had seen him. It didn't go away, and the vague lines on his face only deepened.

"Oi. The other dead can talk, don't tell me you left your tongue behind in that pool you jumped into so stupidly right?"

There was a pause, and the Assassin finally spoke, "Sorry, who are you?"

"Idiot."

"What?"

"Idiot, without brain, imbecile, cigarette-addict, Cute-Animal-Con, Alice-obsess!"(1)

Myssa and Kaze both stared at him as though he was crazy.

Kale took in a long, deep breath. "You… don't… remember… me…?" He said very very slowly.

Kaze shook his head very very slowly. "I'm sorry?"

Kale had come prepared. Atsuki had given him a warning, Myssa had given him a warning, he himself had given himself many many more similar warnings. Yet the panic and sudden pain that spread through his chest like a wildfire didn't seem to be restrained by all the preparation.

_He doesn't remember. The stupid idiot doesn't remember me. WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhat-_

His brain in a mess, his eyes barely able to see clearly all of a sudden, Kale did the one thing his body decided to do.

He grabbed Kaze by the collar and screamed in his face, "_WELL THEN YOU'D BETTER REMEMBER ME NOW! KALE, YOUR PARTNER IN THE THIEF GUILD, THE STUPID GAKI YOU DRINK IN A BAR WITH AND CHATS UP LADIES WITH YOU!_" Who jumped right into the pool after you disappeared, spent more than four hours in there, cried his eyes swollen, and walked an entire morning and afternoon just to come here to find you and this is what you give him!?

He couldn't even bear to look at his face now, just wiped his face with the back of his left arm and slammed his fist against Kaze's chest. Once, twice, thr-

Wait a minute, slammed his fist against…

There was a snort. Which was followed shortly by a snicker, then a full explosion into mad hysteric laughter.

Kale looked up and blinked away the last of his tears. In horror.

Kaze had to place a hand on the windowsill to steady himself while laughing. And laughing and laughing and…

"Continue and I will stab you to a bloody death with my dagger, and you can have a great time living here _dead_." Kale's tone was dangerous, so Kaze stopped laughing, though with difficulty. The Stalker did look like he was ready to kill though, which added to Kaze's amusement.

When did such a great chance to humiliate Kale suddenly just… appear? Kaze had not expected him to break down into tears though, and though he was more shocked than anything in the beginning, it was rather funny to see Kale cry. For him.

"Sorry." He tried to say solemnly, with a straight face. His mouth twitched upwards and Kale punched him hard on the shoulder.

"You bastard." His eyes were still rather red and swollen, and though he tried to look threatening it looked more like a pout, "When did you remember. All along? When did you become solid?!"

"The moment you started hurling insults at me." Kaze chortled.

"God damn you. I should've left you to rot here."

"I swear to God it was one of most interesting things I've seen in my short life spanning eighteen years."

"I will end it now."

Kaze smiled (more like beamed in triumph) and ruffled the redhead's hair, mussing it up a little more than usual.

"GRAAH! _Don't touch me or I'll kill you… you… thing!_"

Myssa giggled.

"Don't laugh!!!" Kale wailed.

* * *

"And to think you proclaimed yourself a 'stupid gaki' too! So honest," Kaze was still chortling by the time they had reached the gates of Niffleheim.

"Kaaazee. You shut up. Now."

"Are you regretting your decision?" Myssa piped, smiling widely.

"Yes." Kale hissed, glaring at Kaze. "I do all that for him and this is the appreciation he gives me."

The young woman only smiled without saying anything, and continued her silent walk behind both of them, only stopping when they pushed the gate open and slipped through. "I cannot send you both any further I'm afraid," Myssa said, "I do hope you know your way back."

"I've got a person with a map on the other side of this thing here," Kale waved the blue gem in the air. "Though I have a good mind to take a detour and tie this guy to a tree so he can starve to death."

Kaze only snickered at that, "You know you love me too much to do that."

"Shut up."

Myssa giggled again, and waved, "Bon Voyage then."

"See ya! Though not soon, I hope." Kale waved and walked off, the blue gem once more glowing as he called for Kotone.

"Just a question," Kaze looked at Myssa, "I certainly don't think 'myssa' is used to describe a bodypart or a character trait. You came the way I did, didn't you."

"And only remember my name," Myssa smiled, her red eyes sad. "But no one came for me. It's been too long, and I know everyone who knows me is now dead. No one has come to Niffleheim though."

Kaze raised his eyes to look at the small town, the shingled roofs and the crooked chimneys, and the shadows the dead branches of trees held up to the moon. "Why didn't they come?"

"Because they have never thought of dying." Myssa answered, her voice straightforward and simple. "Will I see you again?"

"Perhaps." Kaze smiled, "Though you'd have to wait for a lot longer."

"I have all the time in the world," Myssa replied, her smile ever present, "Though in another way, none." She turned and walked back to the inn, never turning back again.

"OI, Kaze!"

Kaze turned from the gate.

Kale grinned, "Come on, let's go back."

"Mm."

"Get ready for the longest walk of your life."

"You walked all the way here for me? I'm touched."

"That's only because you can't help yourself!"

"I so can."

"Oh yea? If I didn't appear you wouldn't have remembered!"

"Gaki."

"Idiot."

* * *

1. Yes. Kaze is all of those things. He likes cute animals, and he has an obsession with Alice. Yes, Alice, the floor-sweeping beauty. -smiles-

After-words:

YAY.

I celebrate. Thus ends the little three-part story-arc. It was fun writing this. It was even more fun laughing with Kaze. I was considering adding a little more angst and tears and a touching final hug or something, but seriously, that is not them. I chose the ending most suitable for these two idiots, or... so I felt. The feedback from my friends so far was that they would have enjoyed a bit more angst and all, but... really, truly. It is hard to angst when it involves Kale and Kaze. (Though I will prove this wrong in the few chapters to come.)

I hope you enjoyed. D:

-runs away-


	9. Chapter 9

**The Hika Blabs ::**

I thought now would be a good time to start touching up on Kaze and Kale's past… Not those bits you've seen before, but rather the "how in the world did these two weirdos get together anyway" sort of past. I did promise I'd go back sometime soon, and well… here it is. Hika's little summary of how it all began… sorta.

Beware though, because we do funky time travelling combined with Hika's choppy-ness.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 9****  
オレにとってはただのバカでさぁ…**

(_To me he's just a normal idiot_)

The smell of cigarette smoke was overpowering. The tendrils of grey white extended their fingers, weakly reaching out for something, then fading into a thin but overwhelming scent. Kale frowned and opened a window, even though after nearly one and a half years living with Kaze had more or less increased his immunity to the annoying fragrance of smoke, too much was never good. The cool autumn breeze, mingled with the smell of fallen leaves blew in. It created a strange perfume as it mixed with the cigarette smoke.

"Aren't you smoking a little too much lately?" Kale turned away from his temporary input of fresh air, looking accusingly at Kaze.

"Why can't I?"

Kaze's tone held its usual bite-back quality, the tone he used whenever someone chose to tell him what he should be doing. Kale could identify that tone by now. He scratched the back of his neck, in slight exasperation, trying to find a better way to put it,

"You're coughing a lot lately. And those asthma attacks at night…"

"It's autumn." Came the excuse, before a coughing fit.

"See?" Kale crossed his arms and leant against the windowsill, "Stop smoking so much. Why in the world do you do that, anyway? Is it that fun?"

"Not really." Kaze paused, exhaling a cloud of white smoke, his fingers fiddled with the box of cigarettes, the white sticks within making a cheery clatter everytime he shook them ever so slightly. His index finger ran along the front of the box, carressing the red packaging. "It's because it's red."

"It's… what?" Kale blanched.

"Red." Came the reply, a matter-of-fact reply.

Kale raised an eyebrow at that. "A lot of other things are red. Why not try tomatoes instead? How's that? Tomatoes instead of cigarettes."

"Don't like tomatoes."

Kale frowned slightly, trying to remember what else was edible, healthy, and red. "Apples! You like apples, Kaze?"

"… they're okay, I guess."

"Good! Then eat more apples and smoke less cigarettes! They're red!" Kale nodded sagely, "A balanced diet for a healthy lifestyle!" He wasn't a person who was terribly picky with being healthy and all that, but Kaze and his cigarettes were a different story. For one, the smell (nowadays much stronger than before, perhaps due to the large amount Kaze was smoking) was too strong, for another, Kaze's coughs at night were disturbing. More disturbing than those nights when he woke up, gasping in cold sweat; almost crying.

Kaze stared. Midnight-cobalt blue eyes blinked a few times, a strange look of wonder in them. Kale noticed the look, and frowned again, red eyes suspiciously glaring back,

"What?"

A small smile tugged at the corners of Kaze's lips as he shook his head,

"You… sound like my mom."

* * *

Red was the colour that reminded him of her. Her hair was red afterall, the sunset-dyed ruby red; bright red. Kaze didn't really know when his obsession with red began. Perhaps along with his obsession for cigarettes, for women. He smoked, he flirted, he ended up with countless one-night-stands, countless disappointed girls who left him, one after another. Ended up with nothing else except more cigarettes, more women, and a blurry reminder of blood red during a rainy day. 

He had wandered too; moving from one city to another, never staying too long, a mere drifting along with the breeze and tides of time. Everytime things got too noisy, everytime things got too annoying, he moved. And smoked more, and indulged in more women that he would forget about the next day.

He didn't like Prontera. It was, afterall, the capital city of Rune Midgard. Capital cities were busy places, full of people, that could resemble an ocean; full of people that Kaze didn't really want to even be amongst – the crowds never failed to give him a headache.

Yet today he had walked through the main gates and stepped into the bustling capital city, perhaps because everywhere else he had spent too much time in already. The sights were typical, the crowds were typical, the marketplace sold typical items, and as he walked past a group of young women, the gazes they slipped at him – almost secretly, as if it wasn't for him to notice – were typical. He inhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke and flashed a smile at them.

Anything. Anyone. So long as they took up some space, temporarily.

Still, he continued walking – having caught their interest, he could always find them later – squeezing unhappily through the crowd he hated. Tiill there was suddenly a tug on the corner of his shirt, a tug that was not strong enough to even jerk him to a stop, but yet managed to pull something else to a stop within him.

The cold, rainy memory of that day.

He turned. Face to face with bright red hair, a careless grin.

Like that day. Almost.

The young boy in front of him didn't stop grinning, "Hey, you dropped your wallet just now." He held up a purse, "Saw it drop out of your pocket."

Kaze shook his head slightly, just to get rid of the frozen thoughts that had managed to settle; the blur of bright red that he had never forgotten, the blur of bright red that haunted every corner of his vision. This wasn't his mother though, obviously. He had to hold in a snort of disgust – at himself, perhaps. This was just a young kid.

He took the purse from him, nodded not-so-gratefully, then turned away.

But the tug had pulled something in him to a stop.

And he wasn't able to forget.

Especially later in the evening, in the inn he was supposed to stay for the night, when he realised the purse returned to him was empty.

* * *

A week or so had passed from that encounter in Prontera, and despite all his promises to himself, Kaze found himself once more in Morroc. Still, staying around the desert city wasn't that unpleasant, so long as he didn't bump into any family members – or distant relatives – who would notice him. So long as he didn't go anywhere near his home. The Thief Guild was far away from his home, which was perhaps why Kaze could allow himself to even seek it. 

He had, being the clever person he was, kept with himself an ample supply of zeny (taken convieniently with him the day he left home, then nearly spent completely after a week or so; still, whatever was left was still a relatively large sum) that was supposed to last him for approximately one more week. That one tug had tugged said ample supply of zeny away from him.

Kaze, disgruntled he was, could find no other way for survival other than to start taking up jobs. He didn't like taking up jobs, and wondered if he could offer to do the more simple ones within the Thief Guild – those that didn't involve killing someone. He couldn't kill anymore. Not now.

"Your name?"

"Kaze." He had paused then, "Kigami Kaze." Not 'Ashetaka', but 'Kigami'. His mother's name.

"Sign here then," The reception shoved a yellowed piece of paper at him, along with a pen.

Kaze let the pen hover for a moment, before scrawling in messy script something that resembled a signature. He didn't really have a signature – he never bothered to remember one – but it wasn't as if the reception would actually notice… right?

He slid the contract back across the counter, wondering if he could still back out of it a few months later, after he had enough money.

"According to the contract, we will provide you with a place to stay. The initial rent has been paid, but after this month it will be your responsibility. Be happy that you will be able to share that load along with the workload with your partner."

"Partner?" He had not heard about a Partner. The Thief Guild was known for not-having-Partners.

The guy at the reception – what was his name again? Kaze failed to remember – understood his question immediately, "Oh. New rule passed down by the King… or something like that. Something about believing in Partnership Making People Stronger." The man shrugged, "You don't have to work with him for all your jobs, but you will share the residence. It is easier for us this way, really."

Kaze wondered if the Thief Guild agreed to those terms because they obeyed the King, or if they were just using it as an excuse to pay for less housing rents. He shrugged it off after a few seconds of consideration – it was of no importance. Having another person share the rent with him would definitely be better, he supposed. And so long as his Partner was clever enough to leave him alone for most of it, both of them would be happy.

The man at the reception led him into one of the smaller waiting rooms of the Thief Guild. "Introductions," he started glumly, without a tint of enthusiasm. Anyone else's enthusiasm of meeting their new Partner would have been doused by his Un-Enthusiasm. "Your new Partner, Kale… Kale, Kaze Kigami."

Though Kaze's Enthusiasm was doused, something else was not. And that was the realisation mixed in with fury mixed in with ridiculous happiness, that his new Partner was the person who had very kindly stolen all of his money.

He smiled. Threateningly.

Kale's grin twitched. Involuntarily.

* * *

Kale – the kid had no family name, and even if he did, refused to tell him – was only a year younger than he was, but was bursting with the energy a stereotypical kid his age was supposed to possess. Kaze gave him hell for their first week stay together, partly because he knew this was the person who stole his wallet, partly because the kid was really, truly, one of the most annoying people he had ever met. 

The grin that never left his face, the witty sarcasms that he said with cheeriness that were always rather provoking despite the smile that came in the same package, the non-stop bombarding of random ideas and topics that forced Kaze to talk. And talk. And talk. And talk till he was so tired he had to stand up, slam the table, shout a curse word, and hope that he got his point across.

But all Kale did was to grin happily at him, and ignore previously said curse words and offending insults. Kale Continued Talking. Kaze had to restrain himself from attempting to strangle the kid – he had afterall promised himself that he would never ever kill another human being ever again; if he did he'd commit suicide next. And the thought of killing the annoying brat, then having to end his own life because of that, was ridiculous. Kaze didn't really see the point in ending his life because of some overly-talkative wallet-stealer.

Still, he had to admit, Kale could make decent dinner.

He was stirring a pot of curry now, and the smell was promising. Kaze watched from their small living room with their solitary sofa as Kale threw in the potatoes he had diced previously into the pot of store-bought, ready-made spices. "Hey, Kaze…"

Kaze groaned. That was the usual beginning of another one of Kale's random conversations. "What?"

The doorbell rang.

Kale looked over his shoulder, his mouth forming the beginning of an unspoken sentence that was swallowed and replaced with another, "Who's that? We don't get visitors at night…" Pause. "Wait, don't tell me you flirted up some more lovely ladies and asked them to dinner at our place? I didn't cook enough, Kaze!"

Kaze got up from his comfortable dent in the sofa, sighing, "No. I didn't." He preferred to spend nights with women – _alone_ – preferrably in an inn or a hotel of sorts. _Not with Kale._ (Though he had to admit, with Kale's non-stop-conversational skills, it was much easier to attract girls and get friendly.)

The man standing at the door had the worn down look and rotting cloak (smeared with blood and other things that were the main culprits for its rot) of a messenger from the Thief Guild. "Kigami Kaze and Kale?"

Kaze frowned, "Yes?"

"There's been an urgent notice from the Guild regarding a certain job no one else has been free to take up… As you and your partner are currently free-"

Kaze didn't let him finish. "What job."

His glare made the messenger stumble a step backwards. "The… the usual…?"

"No."

"B-but everyone is convinced that both of you have the ability to do much better than those currently taking up such jobs…" The messenger trailed off, "Plus, aren't you earning a little too little taking up those jobs meant for amateur Thieves to do? Surely your partner…"

"Doesn't mind." Came Kale's voice from behind him, the red-haired kid standing on slight tiptoe so he could grin at the messenger from behind Kaze's shoulder.

"But-"

Kale held up a hand – still behind Kaze's shoulder – and grinned, "I like working for pretty girls, and I'm not interested in killing people, or getting involved in sticky politics of secret information and all those confidential things. Plus, you probably got it wrong with us being able to handle stuff. I can't, and this guy here's more unreliable than I am."

Kaze raised an eyebrow at that. The messenger went pale and began to splutter,

"H-how could you say that!? Do you _know_ who your partner is!? He's the eldest son of-"

Kaze bristled, his hand at his side clenching into a fist. Again? And he had taken so much care to attempt to keep it concealed. Why did people have to try to dig it up and wave it around again?

"The eldest son of the Ashetaka family, talented and meant to take over his family business, yes, yes, I know…" Kale rolled his eyes, "You think I've never heard about that from all those whispering people on the streets everytime they see me walk around with him?" He placed a hand on Kaze's shoulder, and firmly, almost gently, pushed him sideways so he could step in front. His other hand extended his middle finger to flick at the messenger's nose. "In my eyes he's just another idiot. Lazy, self-centered, childish, and very forgetful and unreliable. I know him more than you do, because I've just suffered his wrath for a week. Okay? Got it?"

"But-"

Kale shooed the man off with one hand, and with the other hand slammed the door in his face. He had grinned at Kaze then, a simple grin. No more words except a careless punch on the shoulder,

"Lighten up. Your knuckles are white. You need that hand if you want to enjoy your dinner, you know?"

* * *

It wasn't something they didn't notice. 

The fact that whilst Kale struggled to grab hold onto a fragile Strength, Kaze wanted to keep falling.

It started with the colour of red and a tug.

It started with the unwilling offer of a chicken leg.

It started…

* * *

Afterwords: 

Well. Well well well.

Here you have it. The "How It All Began". I think there might be slight differences with the writing style, since I wrote the previous chapters during my summer holiday, and this was coughed out… today (and yesterday). There's a bit of a time lapse, and to tell the truth I don't know if I've managed to preserve the initial style of Stray… Much apologies. But bleh. I'll get it back soon, I hope.

Every time I switch to Kaze as the viewpoint character, the story stinks of Angst… (snorts) Anyone smelt a soon-to-come danger? XD

Oh well, perhaps the next chapter will end up more lighthearted… I don't know, it depends I guess.

Ah, and Hika will be adding links in her profile for character sketches and art and all that soon, so if anyone's interested, please feel free to check every now and then… XD (Beware the health of your eyes! BEWARE!!!)


	10. Chapter 10

**The Hika Blabs ::**

Okay. Hika will now apologize because she realised she went too far in time the previous chapter. That was around Autumn. Now we will jump back to Summer, because I have unfinished business with these two. XD If I'm fast enough, perhaps I can cough up the Winter-"Last Chapter" like thing before Christmas. If I'm not fast enough, then well… We can have a late winter-thing. D:

Oh, a warning. Remember that Mild-BL warning I put in the first chapter?

**This chapter marks the end of Mildness. **There's nothing explicit or anything, mind you; Hika is just warning you that the events that will happen from this chapter onwards will very obviously point towards a homosexual relationship. It will be hard to shrug it off as Friendship from now on. Don't worry, I think the most they will ever do is kiss. If you're offended by such things, it is time to stop reading Stray. If you have come through all those previous chapters and didn't mind it, please go ahead and enjoy the rest of Stray. If you are a fan of BL anyway… well. Why not? The good bits have just begun. (smiles)

What a long warning. Just so people don't sue me… XD

Oh. And at least three different events take place in this chapter. I apologize for the choppiness and beg everyone's pardon. XD Because Stray is not one of those "let's follow a plotline that will typically lead to something like Saving the Universe" stories, I tend to just grab different stages of their relationship and target that stage with events that could reflect that… At least, that is Hika's justification. (smiles) It's my writing style, okay!? XD Hika writes choppy things that jump all over the place, tied by a central idea that barely exists!

(What a terrible excuse.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 10  
これはヤキモチじゃねえ！　　これは、えーっと…**

(_This isn't Jealousy! This is, err…_)

"Nee Please? Please please please? O.ne.ga.ii(1)! I need to meet Kaze now!"

"Miss, I understand your distress, but he does not come to the Thief Guild this early…"

"Contact him then?"

"Surely you could ask any one of the other members of the Guild to-"

The young alchemist put her hands on slender hips, a cute pout gracing her features, "Nooo-! It has to be Kaze!"

Qren sighed and rubbed his temples. "Well then, I will try my best to contact him-"

"Aaa don't worry about that…" It was as if Qren wasn't having a headache large enough as Kale entered the reception chamber of the guild with a wide grin; the young stalker was a common source of Qren's migranes, "Kaze's just having some difficulties with the morning, you know, the usual." He dismissed it with a wave of his hand, "He sorta slept over breakfast and he's washing the corn soup out of his hair now."

A small grin grazed his features, "Of course, it's partly his fault for falling asleep when I was talking to him." There was something that wasn't mentioned here, obviously. Like the fact that Kale had whacked Kaze over the back of his head which resulted in quite a decent dunk in a bowl of corn soup. Kale had ran for his life, obviously.

"But while Kaze washes up, I can always handle the pretty girl! Don't worry Qren, there's absolutely nothing _wrong_ with your face, of course, but I do doubt your ability with the females."

Qren shot Kale a look which was ignored.

"Aaaand I heard the demand for my darling partner," Kale turned to the girl with a grin, "May I be honoured to know the name?"

The girl giggled and flicked a stray strand of hair out of wide round eyes, "Mynne." She moved in closer to study Kale's face before beaming a wide grin, "Kaaawaii-!!(2) Your name?"

"Aa?" Kale scratched the side of his face, "Whoa, not many girls actually say that about me." He laughed sheepishly, "I'm Kale, I sorta work with Kaze on some quests the Thief guild gives us."

"Aaa-! That's good then!" She smiled and held up one finger, "I needed some help with something actually, and since you're Kaze's partner you'll be coming with us won't you? Waai! More fun!" Her eyes flickered slightly over to Qren, who was downing a few pills, "By the way, does that counter guy always react to you like that?"

"I try my best not to make his life a nightmare." Kale replied solemnly. "But alas, I think he has low tolerance levels." He ducked the pen which Qren chucked at him and cackled. After a pause he straightened his face, "So, what was the problem again?" His face paled when he noticed someone storm through the doorway,

"Gakiiii…" The aura of DOOM.

"Eep." Kale jumped behind Mynne, "Yaa Kaze! Don't make a scary face like that, you'll scare Mynne-chan!"

"You're _hiding_ behind her, gaki."

"Eh. Well."

"Kaaaaze-chaaan!" Mynne bounded up to him and threw her arms around his neck, giving the Assassin a squeeze which he accepted a little absentmindedly. She pulled away slightly, her arms still around his neck, a pleading expression on her face, "Help?"

"With?"

"Aaa…" Mynne feigned a sob, "Kaze's so cold! Usually it should be 'Of course, anything you ask for' shouldn't it?" She looked to Kale for reassurance.

"Definitely." Kale nodded, "Don't bother with Kaze, he's just a very cold person. I'll help you and we can leave the guy with corn soup still on his hair!"

Kaze's hand immediately flew up to his head. To that Kale snorted and cracked into insane laughter. "It's all_ gone_, you idiot!"

"…gaki, you're calling for salad for tomorrow's breakfast."

"…" Horror. "What? _Salad_? You can't do this to me! How can you live with salad for breakfast!? It's not even filling!" Kale pouted and tried to look dignified.

Kaze shrugged like it didn't matter.

"Okay, okay! I'm _sorry_ okay?"

"Much better. You'd get toast."

"I'm sorry I dunked your glorious crown of silky hair into corn soup with my terrible actions that were obviously inappropriate?" Kale tried.

"Toast with a fried egg."

"Kaaaazeeee-"

Mynne had to bite down on her lip to stop bursting into laughter, "Mouu(3)! You guys are too cute!"

* * *

"The orcs stole your _what_?" Kale looked increduous.

Mynne sighed and put a hand to her cheek, "Beauty potion."

There was a bit of a pause there, but Kale was quick with his follow up, "Why would a beauty like you need one?"

"Awww no, it's not for me, though a girl would always want to be _more_ beautiful than she usually is, surely!" Mynne punched Kale playfully on the shoulder for that compliment. "It's a project issued by the Alchemist guild actually. I'm working with a friend on it… But well, she was out collecting ingredients when a bunch of orcs came in and…" She trailed off and shook her head, "It's not even _finished_ though, but we need to find it… The ingredients we used for the base were too rare and expensive…"

She paused, "And well, I thought it'd be nice to go out with you guys, have a picnic and all that!" She beamed.

"Picnic!" Kale's eyes lit up.

"…Gaki."

Kale coughed, "I mean, sure. Not only is it a pleasure to help such an adorable girl like you from distress, but the aspect of actually having a picnic with you? My lucky day." He turned to Kaze with a frown, "You keep all the pretty girls away from me."

"No, they just come to me instead. For obvious reasons."

"Hah." Kale snorted, "Very funny."

* * *

Mynne cheerfully squealed as yet another one of the Orcs fell to its knees and fell face-down into the ground with a groan.

"Fighto!!!(4) Go Kaze!" She swung her axe carelessly sideways into the face of another Orc as it attempted to sneak up on her. "Kya! I'm sorry! Are you okay!?"

Obviously it wasn't.

Kaze snorted at that, dodging another arrow from a nearby Orc Archer, venting his annoyance towards its constantly flying arrows with a quick slam into the stomach with his Katars. The larger Orc stood amongst fallen bodies of its companions, clutching on to a vial of clear liquid – it was amazing the vial had yet to shatter under his grip – then let out a roar of anger, grabbing the axe that lay next to it.

Kaze coughed once. How long did he take to dispatch what lay around him? Ten minutes? Fifteen? He could already feel the effects creeping up on his windpipe, the thin fingers curling around it, ready to seal it shut.

"Are you okay?" Mynne called from behind him. They had instructed the girl to step back and not get involved in the battle, and the young Alchemist had been obedient.

"Yes." Kaze tried to hide his gasp of air.

Mynne looked worriedly from Kaze to the final Orc with the Beauty Potion clutched in its hands. It didn't really look like something that could be dealt with in one blow, and judging from the way Kaze was breathing right now – she could see his effort to take in oxygen – it really wasn't working out anymore.

Where was Kale, anyway? The red-head had vanished after a particularly nasty ambush by the Orcs, right in the middle of their picnic. Mynne reached for a small bottle at her belt; if this continued she'd have to try and help too.

The Orc charged, Kaze braced, his leg muscles tensing as the fingers around his windpipe tightened.

He choked.

And the axe…

Wasn't there. The Orc let out a noise of surprise, looking from Kaze to his empty-fisted hand. The Assassin Cross allowed the corners of his mouth to move upwards slightly, despite his grimace from the oncoming asthma attack.

"Tch, didn't your mommy teach you that violence isn't the right way to solve problems?" Kale grinned, leaning against said missing axe, his right hand tossing an item in the air and then catching it. It glinted in the sun – a glass vial filled with a clear liquid.

Another noise of surprise as the Orc looked to his other hand, equally empty.

But by the time it finished shouting and booming its agony, Kaze and Kale had run for it, dragging Mynne behind them.

* * *

Kale laughed as he slapped Kaze on the back, "You okay? Hold on in there, kay?"

A curse word, "What took you so long, gaki."

"Had to wait for the right moment, you know?" Kale flexed his fingers slightly, "Despite my talent in taking things off people, I can't do it properly unless they are properly distracted." He threw a glance behind him, just to make sure there was no Orc behind them, before holding out the vial, "Here. I hope this is the thing you're looking for. Beauty Potion huh…" He cackled, "With a face like that, I can understand why the guy was so desperate."

Mynne let out a happy laugh and threw herself at Kale, squeezing him in a tight hug. "Yatta!!! Arigatou--!"(5)

"Ha-hahaha… No problem! It was a pity they jumped into our picnic though, I was enjoying your riceballs you know? You're a great cook… just er… Mynne… leggo…"

"Aah! Oops! Sorry!" A sheepish giggle as Mynne released the Stalker from her embrace, "You liked them? Must be that special spice I put in them."

"Special spice?"

"Yep! Something I came up with when I was bored…"

Kaze rubbed at his throat, frowned at the two in front of him, before turning around and walking off.

"Pizza?! Did you say Pizza?" Kale's eyes were shining at Mynne, "Hey, Kaze! Mynne said she'd make Pizza for us-" He stopped in midsentence at the sight of a very small Kaze walking off into the distance. "OI! Kaze!!! What in the world—"

He gave chase, and Mynne watched the two with a fond smile before running after the retreating figures.

* * *

It probably started with a joke. Just a small joke that happened after a little too much alcohol in the Bar. It was known Tradition for both of them to start doing rather strange things after a drink, even to the extent of some rather out-of-the-ordinary jokes lately. Perhaps it was because both of them had taken a slight step (just a slight step!) backwards from the white line that told everyone else "Do not cross!" and allowed the other to take a slight step (only a slight step!) forward. Beyond that white line.

Just slightly.

So as Kale hauled Kaze's not-very-steady body all the way from the bar to the small house they were still staying in, a strange conversation began.

"It's not working lately."

"…What isn't?" Kale was always the one who could ended up sober after their late night drinks. Probably because he was so much more cautious and wary, to the extent of drinking every drink so very slowly; probably because Kaze swallowed drink after drink without a pause. In the end, both would have downed a similar number of drinks, but Kaze would end up helplessly drunk, and it was up to Kale to drag him home before he did anything stupid in the bar. (Highly possible, this was.)

"… the girls are ignoring me."

Kale snorted at that, a half-mocking half-affectionate snort. "Ah, you've lost your touch, Kaze dear!" He shook his head sadly (mockingly), "Alas, now you can only stand at the sidelines and watch me, the amazing Kale-sama charm all the pretty girls in Prontera!"

Kaze uttered a curse word at that. "I'm not asking you to celebrate, gaki." Kaze didn't talk like a drunk, even when he was drunk; you could still see he was, from his swaying gait, the flush on his face, the almost feverish look in midnight blue eyes, and the strange, strange things he managed to spew. "I'm asking you to help."

"Help?" Kale laughed a bit, his eyes counting the streetlamps they walked past as his arms complained about the strain he was putting on them. One, still one, still that one, still that one, and maybe a half of the other one… _Gah. So… slow!_

Obviously he was struggling.

"Yess…" Kaze hissed, frowning slightly. "Why do you think it's like this now?"

"Urrh…" A very concentrated frown, because it was hard to think when your arms were failing to support the weight on them. "I… don't know? I'm not you."

Kaze fell silent after that, and Kale wondered if he had finally been knocked out. As he struggled to open the door however, Kaze raised his head in realisation,

"Must be the kisses."

"… Hah?"

"Might have become rusty after so long."

Kale's grin twitched slightly – he found this conversation extremely amusing – and as he kicked open the door piped in cheerily,

"Practise! That's all you need, Kaze! I say practise makes perfect!"

"Then let me."

"…uh, what?" Kale blinked, and slowly, very slowly turned to look at Kaze with a raised eyebrow, "Let you… what?"

"Practise." Kaze frowned, looking slightly annoyed that Kale wasn't able to understand, his fingers impatiently, clumsily reaching forward to tweak the angle of Kale's face.

And so there was Practise. Twice, on the doorstep. Practise that Kale had shrugged off as the Tradition, and expected Kaze to forget the next morning.

* * *

Kotone found herself scratching her head in confusion. Again. Atsuki had invited her, along with Kale and Kaze to go searching for certain ingredients she needed for a Special Dish she was supposed to be preparing for the upcoming Wizard Meet (where Wizards met to talk about Highly Intelligent Things), and strangely, she had already witnessed three turning-away-hmph type of bickering from Kale and Kaze. And it was only the third hour of their journey.

She quickened her pace slightly, just so she could catch up Kale who was – as usual – walking as if he was in a hurry to go somewhere. "Kale-chan…?"

"Hm?" Kale's furrowed brow came undone as he flashed her a smile – still managing to look rather grumpy – "Yes?"

Kotone pondered for a moment, wondering what was the question she was supposed to ask. "Are you… feeling a little upset today?"

Kale blinked at her, "Huh? Not really… why?"

"Well, because…" Kotone scratched the side of her face, laughing a little sheepishly – it always felt rather strange when you asked someone if they were okay and they replied looking completely fine – and searched her memory for what had happened just five minutes ago.

Kaze had started a conversation with Atsuki, things had been going rather well, and then Kale cut in with a random comment that very nicely pulled Atsuki's attention away from Kaze, at the same time offending the silver-haired Assassin Cross. Kaze started a etort, Kale forced it back with effortless offence. After getting rather heated up, Kaze had turned rather grumpily to one side while Kale continued his conversation with the High Wizard, who would look rather confused.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Thrice.

Kotone found it really hard to put her thoughts about _that_ into words, and instead shrugged a shoulder at Kaze, who was very silently (almost darkly) trailing at the back of the group.

Kale threw a glance backwards to interprete Kotone's very subtle sign, "Oh!" He cracked into a grin and snickered, "Don't worry about Kaze. He gets like that everytime I openly diss him in front of a girl he's interested in…" A pause, "Wait, correct that. A girl he wants to flirt with."

(Kale didn't really know if Kaze was ever interested nowadays, since he could forget about a girl as fast as he approached one.)

Kotone wondered if that was the point. "No, I don't really mean that. Weren't you a little harsh just now?"

Kale raised an eyebrow, "Ah, but I was just being truthful!"

"Right." Kotone sighed. "I just thought though, are you…"

"Hm?"

"…jealous?"

Splutter choke cough. "Wha-what?!"

Kotone stared, watching a very rare moment unfold before her eyes – Kale, flustered. It never happened, ever.

"N-no, th-this isn't jealousy, I err… this is err…" His hands were going all over the place, almost as if they were trying to grasp for an excuse that kept slipping away from them. Kale noticed Kotone's very amused stare, flushed bright red, and within three seconds regained his composure.

"I… just kinda like Atsuki." He looked away, scratching the back of his head. "S'not jealousy. Plus, there's no need to be jealous of Kaze, right? I mean, the guy's pretty much lost his touch with women…"

"Hnnn…?" Kotone cocked her head to one side, trying to catch another glimpse of Kale's face. The face that would say he was lying, hopefully – because when Kale regained control of his act, he lied like a professional – but would be hard to look at until it became the perfect mask to fit the lie.

And Kotone wondered.

If it was really Atsuki that Kale was getting worked up over. What if, just what if, this was Kale's way of stopping _Kaze_ from being with a girl? By shooing Kaze off with insults and wrapping up all of the girl's attention and directing it at himself?

"Nah." She smiled to herself at that thought. How strange she even thought about it. Surely Kale wasn't _that_ manipulative.

"Hm?" Kale turned to look at her, "What?"

His mask perfectly in place.

Kotone shrugged, "Nothing much?"

"Really?" Kale raised an eyebrow, "Oh well, anything you say, Kotone-sama! Ah, by the way! What was Atsuki planning to make? Was it barbequed pork or something like that? Aaahh… I want to taste her cooking too! You think you could sneak some out for me?"

"Maaybe?"

"Pretty please the amazingly talented and ultimately holy Kotone-sama? Pleaaaseee--?"

Kotone giggled, "That was shameless."

"You know it's true, though? Right?"

Kaze, from behind, watched the laughing and giggling, grimaced.

And kicked at a stone.

* * *

(1) Onegai – Please. By stopping at every syllable Mynne sucessfully emphasizes her plead.

(2) Kawaii – cute. God I hope I don't have to explain this… the term's so widely used almost everyone knows it. Just in case though.

(3) Mouuu – in this context, is sort of like "Aaawww". Basically is a sound that can mean anything from "AAARRRGH" to "OMG--!!" Is actually derived from a word, but explaining what that word means is a little too big a challenge. (English is a terrible language to translate Japanese into, you know?)

(4) Fighto – basically means "fight!"

(5) Yatta! Arigatou! – Yay! Thank you!

Mynne appears, and Hika overuses Japanese. XD

After much analysis, one of the most amusing things about these two idiots is that they both get jealous of each other, but both continue to flirt (shamelessly) with girls. Kaze goes silent and sulks, Kale err… well, bombards Kaze with insults and flirts more.

Clever Kotone made the right hypothesis, but dismissed it. XD

Silly boys. (smiles)

Oh, and Mynne-chan was initially used by Minou in her stories and manga, one of Kaze's err… Girlfriends? Is that the right word? XD

And a very random side-note, Kaze loves Alchemists and High Wizards. Their costumes, I mean. At least, in the game that is the case. He adores them, but flirts with any other decent looking girl as much. Kale seems to like Whitesmiths and High Priests more, but yea. Sorry for the random information. (runs away)


	11. Chapter 11

**The Hika Blabs ::**

There was nothing else to write about, so I squeezed everything into one chapter. (smiles) Ah, angst AND fluff warning, just so people know what they're about to be reading. (this is a bad combination, yes I know.)

Bits and pieces of this chapter came from a (very rare) fic for Kaze and Kale, written by Minou in chinese. I had to borrow some bits because… I don't know Kaze. Not that well anyway. I know him as well as Kale does, and though we'd like to be proud about knowing _more_ about Kaze than the average stranger on the street does, we're pretty much confused by the rest of him. XD (bows down to Minou) I apologize. You will find a lot of this very familiar. XD

Oh. And this chapter is EXCEPTIONALLY CHOPPY. I cannot emphasize that anymore. XD We jump from one event to another to another and another… yea. My excuse is that it's a great example of Kaze's err… choppy memory. (how rude.)

Why did I do this, then? If it was choppy and almost-borrowed? _Because you need to understand Kaze's mentality for it to truly hurt._ OTZ And because Hika is unable to fully capture Kaze's mentality, she could only refer to The Textbook (in other words, Minou's stories. XD)

Alright. I think that's about it. Please enjoy! (bows)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 10  
****わからない…俺が見ているのは「いま」なのか…？**

(_I don't know what I'm looking at anymore… "now", or…?_)

It was probably because of that day; when Kotone got hopelessly drunk after some celebration outside and very happily dragged Kale onto bed with her. Nothing happened, because Kale had very firmly refrained from doing anything stupid (that both him and Kotone would have regretted the next day). Nothing happened, but it was enough.

And so Kaze was darkly silent, a frowning organism that drifted from place to place; more sunken in his own thoughts than the actual jealousy that was flowing from him. There were other things within him that took up the space, like a cup filled to the brim with water that couldn't help but overflow.

Kale, being the person who became more annoying the more you ignored him, simply chased Kaze from place to place, bombarding him with questions.

And after a while, Kaze was too tired to keep running.

"What in the world are you angry at?" Kale stood over him, his usual grin plastered on his face, trying to sound accusing. To tell the truth he was more amused than annoyed at Kaze's behavior.

"I'm not angry." Came the reply. Kaze turned away and lit a cigarette.

Kale raised an eyebrow at that, and automatically sat down on the bench next to him. "Then you won't mind me sitting here right?"

No answer.

Kale scratched the back of his neck, turning the other way to look at the streets of Geffen instead. "Kaze?"

"What."

"Was it because of last night? Kotone was ready to kowtow this morning," He chuckled a bit. "She told me to apologize to you too." Kale feigned cluelessness, "So, what has _that_ got to do with _you_?"

There was a pause.

"Kaaazeeee…?" Kale turned to look at the silver-haired Assassin Cross once more, leaning forward so he could stare into his eyes. The midnight-blue eyes flickered to one side. "Look, if you're not angry, then _what_ is it!?" Kale took a brief moment to question himself on when he began getting so worked up at Kaze's ignoring of him. Three seconds later he shrugged it off, and continued to attempt to annoy Kaze.

When you annoyed Kaze enough, the guy would lose his temper and spit it all out at you. That was one of the lessons Kale had learnt, and it was awfully valuable knowledge.

"I…"

It was coming, Kale could feel it. The answer of the day! What was it now? He prepared to gloat. "Yes?"

"I like you."

The gloat was swallowed. Kale's mouth formed no words, and instead hung open. What?

The shocked expression melted into a frown, and Kale eyed his Partner with suspicion. This was a joke Kaze liked to play on him lately, though this was the first time it was said in such a straightforward manner. The first time when he had responded to a similar statement honestly, Kaze had made fun of him for the rest of the week. Now, as Kale studied the face in front of him, his brain asked The Question,

_Is this a trap again?_

Yes? No? He had to take a guess. "You're joking, right?" Not because he found it funny, but rather because – despite wanting to deny this – even though he did have a liking for Kaze (yes, in that way too), the possibility of Kaze ever being honest, and saying something for the sake of being honest was close to Zero.

Kaze fell silent for a moment, and Kale had to strain to look into his face. Did he get it right? He had to be right. The confidence came with a sinking feeling of disappointment that he had forced – rather irritably – back down.

Then Kaze laughed. "Hahahaha! Of course it's just a joke! Why in the world would I ever like you anyway!? Keep dreaming, gaki!" But while he said that he stood up from the bench.

Ready to walk away.

And so Kale, being the clever observant person he was, finally understood. What he didn't understand was why he had reached out, grabbed for Kaze's hand, and very quickly, very lightly, in almost a split second, pecked him on the lips.

But because Kaze had laughed it off as a joke, Kale only smiled back at his shocked expression and retreated, hands by his side as he walked away, trying to look relaxed and unconcerned. Fighting back the red in his cheeks.

Footsteps, and Kaze had caught up, carelessly sliding a hand into his.

They had continued walking, as if nothing had happened.

But Kale had squeezed back.

* * *

What did four years change? Not much, apparently. Everytime he thought he had shrugged it off, everytime he thought it was finally "the past", a flicker of red at the corner of his eyes would change it.

So what had changed?

Himself, the conclusion came to be. The him that was forced to pull back all those bits and pieces and shards that had managed to leak out (no, had always been leaking) back inside. Almost like fixing a leaky faucet, except it wasn't water that had to be held back. More like sharp edges. Sharp edges in water that flowed with a vengeance.

Other than that, nothing else.

* * *

Kale threw open the door and flung himself at the sofa, "Haaa--! That's it! No more huge confusing areas with lots of huge monsters in it! No more!" His complaint was muffled by the armrest. Kaze raised an eyebrow at that, and shut the door behind him.

"By the way," Kale – with quite a bit of effort – looked up from his face-down position, "What happened just now? She left in a hurry didn't she?" He was referring to the young Whitesmith they had been doing an errand together with today.

Kaze shrugged, "Nothing much."

"Aaah…" Kale grinned and forced himself up to sit crosslegged on the sofa, "You shoved her away?"

Kaze frowned at that, but busied himself with unclipping the belt that held his Katars. "She wasn't completely serious anyway."

"Hnn…?" There was a slight incline of his head, but the red-haired Stalker said no more about that as he stood up and stretched. "Dinner?"

"Corn soup." Came the immediate reply. "And garlic bread."

"Hai, hai…" Kale mock-sighed in defeat, grabbing for the french loaf on their dinner table that they had for breakfast. "Garlic, garlic…"

Kaze watched as Kale rummaged for the things he needed, opening cupboard doors and slamming drawers shut. Kaze trailed after him, watching as deft fingers peeled off the outer layers of a garlic. Kale squashed the garlic with the blade of the chopping knife, and at once the smell started to spread from kitchen to living room. Perhaps even the bedroom.

Without really realising what he was doing, he had let his forehead fall against Kale's shoulder, his arms circling his waist. Kale indifferently mixed garlic with butter, only stopping for a moment to look at him,

"Kaze?"

"Mn?"

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing much." He pressed his nose against the the fur of Kale's jacket, breathing in the scent that was always there. (Even when garlic was everywhere else.)

His arms tightened their grip around his waist; there was no other hidden meaning in that one unconscious gesture, only the need for warmth. The need to prove that everything was different now, the need to prove that he was living in "the present"…

It was different. Different. Things weren't supposed to be the same. This wasn't supposed to be the same.

"_I wasn't being serious anyway."_

"…_how 'bout me, then?"_

Because it was Kale, _since it was Kale_, it had to be different.

* * *

So when did it truly begin?

With that tug on the corner of his clothes?

With that flash of red?

With that careless grin?

He had forgotten when it had actually begun.

When did bickering beoame a habit where insults were never intentional nor meant to be insults? When did it almost become a natural thing to press palm against palm when no one was looking? When did one of those rare careless grins manage to strum something within him? When was there suddenly only his name left?

When did he start to forget if she too, smelt the same?

No. What had that got to do with anything? It was different, wasn't it? But yet all those thoughts that had nothing to do with each other had managed to tangle up, in the midst of pouring rain and cigarette smoke, the flash of blood red and a careless grin.

So in the end, what was he looking at? "Now", or…?

He didn't know anymore.

* * *

Autumn was coming. Or was it already Autumn? Seasons seemed to be one of those things that shifted so gradually it was difficult to judge exactly when one began to shift into the other. Summer had slowly given away to a cooler, crisper breeze. The trees had slowly started to change their greens into golden colours of orange, brown and red. Not all at once, but slowly. A gradual change. So whether or not it was really, truly Autumn, or that it was going to be Autumn, was not clear anymore.

Yet one thing could be made quite certain, and that was whether or not Autumn was here, or coming, it was Autumn.

Autumn, four years ago, would never be the same as Autumn now. But it was Autumn.

Kaze's thoughts seemed to go round and round in a circle.

Not the same, but the same. Autumn, but not the same Autumn. Still nevertheless, Autumn.

He stared blankly ahead of him, the soon-to-be-completely bare trees casting their shadows over the pavement of Prontera.

If people made the common mistake of thinking that Kale was a person who didn't think much, they made the same mistake of Kaze, thinking of him as a person who thought a lot. Kaze didn't think, in fact, he was much less a thinker than Kale was. Occasionally though, every once in a while, he would doze off and stare blankly ahead, and that was when all those droplets of water and the sharp, sharp edges floating in them would make a din in the leaky faucet Kale had tightened up for him.

Kaze frowned slightly – though he didn't know why he was frowning – and it was almost as if the fog in his eyes were compressed, compacted and concentrated all at once.

There was a warm breath of air against his ear. An arm was thrown over his shoulder,

"Thinking?"

Kaze shrugged, "Not really."

He could feel Kale's grin, in the darkness of the evening; behind the red-haired gaki was a sliver of orange, the warmth within the house ebbing out in a thin pulse. He shifted slightly, his right hand (free of its cigarette now that he left it in his mouth) reached over to ruffle at the rusty red hair – almost brownish marroon given the current lighting,

"I…"

"Hm?"

"I'll be going out for a bit, tomorrow."

There was a ghost of a flicker in wine-red eyes, "Tomorrow? Where?"

"There's something I need to do." Kaze pressed his lips against Kale's forehead, "When I'm done I'll come back."

Give me a bit of time to catch up with you. Give me a bit of time…

When I'm done I'll come back, so wait for me here.

* * *

Yes, I know what you guys are thinking.

Angst. (smiles sheepishly, and then runs away)


	12. Chapter 12

**The Hika Blabs ::**

Okay. To tell the truth, before Chapters 8, 9, 10 and 11 were written, this chapter alredy existed. There was a particularly heart-wrenching conversation with Minou on MSN one day, when she mentioned the fact that Kaze might have to leave one day to get certain things cleared up.

Being an overly-emotional and attached-to-her-characters writer, Hika wrote all of her hurt into this one chapter. At that time, I had actually succeeded in making a few of my friends cry (or almost-cry). XD Revised and editted. And actually rather emo… (runs away, digs hole, jumps in)

But hey, everyone will have their emo moments in life, no? XD

Oh, by the way, this would be even more enjoyable if you read it whilst listening to "Winter Tears", by Rengoku-Teien:

http (colon, slash slash) www (dot) rengoku (dash) teien (dot) com (slash) pop (dot) html

Remove all the spaces and add the actual punctuation listed in the brackets, then scroll down all the way until you see a song called "Winter-Tears". Heh. Hika wrote this chapter listening to it, so for all those who don't mind music, listen to it while you read, okay? (smiles)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**なぁ、微笑んだお前の後ろ姿を見送って、 **

**何でこんなに痛いんだろう。**

(_Naa, why is it so painful to watch you walk away when you smiled?_)

"_I'm sorry-"_

_Barely anyone had stopped for him. He had been tugging at the sleeves of anyone that didn't run past, trying to raise his voice above the usual chatter of Prontera. But he was hungry, and hungry voices were never loud enough._

"_I'm sorry… do you have any food…?"_

_He didn't even know why he was still trying. Yesterday was enough proof that no one would help him, today wouldn't make it any better. Yet he didn't know what else he could do. He didn't have money, his mother had gone missing, and he didn't really know Prontera well… There was no one he knew around either._

"_I'm sorry…"_

_He collapsed onto his knees and rubbed both eyes with the back of his arm. His vision was getting blurry, and Kale knew it was a disgrace for a boy to cry like this. His hands were caked with dirt and mud and he didn't really want to rub his eyes with them, yet when he looked down at his arms, they were equally dirty. _

"_Here."_

_He had to look up, but before that his nose had already caught the fragrance of roasted chicken. The boy that stood over him seemed about his age, except obviously far more well dressed. He didn't really look willing, but that didn't matter. _

_He didn't even have the chance to be polite, just grabbed the chicken leg with a hurried thank you and sinked his teeth into the tender meat, feeling the sweet juices revive a dead tongue. _

_They were gone by the time he had finished, but he knew he wouldn't forget the lady of red hair, and the young boy._

_Silver hair, blue eyes…_

_That was all the food he had been offered._

"Are(1)?" Kotone looked over the bag of groceries she was carrying, the french loaf awkwardly blocking her view. She shifted the bag slightly just so she could check that she was seeing the right person, "Kale-chan?"

"Aa, yo." The red-head looked up from where he squatted, a hand held up in a greeting.

"What are you doing?" The young high-priestress blinked; her orange-blond hair was dyed red by the sunset, "It's late."

"Waiting." The reply was accompanied by a shrug, and when Kotone raised an eyebrow in question he only grinned.

"Well…" Kotone paused for a moment, but smiled back, "Don't be home too late. It's autumn soon, and it's cold out at night."

"You nag like a mom." Kale chuckled slightly.

_Not like I've had one._

* * *

_It was scary. _

_There was no other way he could describe it. How he could be at ease and laugh freely, how he would risk himself and his calculations, how he could feel so uplifted with just a simple smile. It was scary, so scary, that for all he cared in the beginning, he had avoided having to think about it. _

_But yet it wasn't something that he could control either. No, that was another reason for why it was scary. He couldn't help being happy, couldn't help sneaking glances at him, couldn't help thinking about him, couldn't help wanting to be with him… and then he knew it was too late to do anything else._

_Liking someone was depending on that someone. You gave them all your true feelings and then suddenly, all those fragile bits and pieces lay in their hands, and you had to depend on them and trust them and hope that they wouldn't just let all those bits and pieces fall right down and shatter. It was a weakness he didn't want._

_It was a weakness that wouldn't let go of him though._

_So the day he had squeezed Kaze's hand back after he had slipped his hand casually into his own, Kale gave himself a warning. From that day onwards, more warnings. Don't go any deeper, don't be serious, don't let yourself treasure such a feeling and be happy. _

_Don't treat it seriously, because he'll go away like everyone else did._

* * *

He sneezed, and that was what made Atsuki remove her nose from the thick book she was reading by the light of a small fireball she had casted. "Whoa, and it's dark already… Aren't you cold?"

"A bit," He admitted sheepishly with a grin, "Back from lessons?"

"Yea, we had a lecture at Geffen just now… It was too interesting we sorta debated it through the night…" Atsuki trailed off, and frowned, "What are you doing?"

"Waiting." The same answer, twice.

The High Wizard cocked her head to one side, "Kotone said you were, a few days ago. Are you waiting for the same reason?"

"Yea, sorta."

"But you should be heading home now," Atsuki let out a slight shudder, "Autumn nights are quite chilly afterall."

The smile he flashed at her was a tired one.

_It's not Autumn that's cold._

* * *

_Kaze tended to go on constant disappearances. Kale respected that, and whenever Kaze announced he had something to do, Kale would leave it at that. He wanted to go too, and at times he had to bite back the urge to blurt out something like 'Let me go with you'. Everytime he watched Kaze walk away he would have to clench his fists and tighten his jaw and make sure his expression didn't give away anything._

_The knot in his chest would tighten and wind and tighten and wind, and he could sit around restless for hours until Kaze actually came home. Sometimes it was worse, when the skies were heavy and gray and it seemed like it was going to rain, yet wouldn't. Most of the time he chose to find something to occupy himself with. The pain wouldn't be gone, but at least he wouldn't have to pay too much attention to it._

_Sometimes Kaze disappeared without warnings. The first time he had returned home to an empty house he could almost feel his heart give a lurch and come to a stop for a few seconds. Only when Kaze had returned a few hours after dinner was he able to breathe naturally again._

_He never told him about his unease. He masked it with rude statements and his usual grin, occasionally even with anger or annoyance. No, he wouldn't show such weakness. And even if he did, wasn't it ridiculous?_

_Kaze valued freedom, and he wasn't going to be the chains that held him to one place._

* * *

The autumn leaves crackled under the wheels of her cart as she cheerily tugged it down her usual route back home. Ma-chan hummed a small tune to herself, and only stopped when she spotted him at the side of the street. "Kale-san?"

"Yo." He looked up at her and flashed her a small smile, "How was business?"

"Great as usual," She chirped, "I managed to make a new headgear yesterday, and today it sold well…" She stopped in midsentence, "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" A blink, "Yea, I'm fine."

"You look tired."

"Had a tough time at the Thief Guild today." He shrugged it off.

"Then you should be at home, resting." Ma-chan frowned, "What are you doing out here?"

"Waiting."

"Oh," She smiled a bit, "Be careful of your body though?"

"Yea, thanks."

She bowed a bit, and walked a few more steps forward, her cart bumping merrily behind her, the soft crackle of Autumn its footsteps. She stopped then,

"Do you still have it?"

"Have what?"

"The cat plushie."

A strange look replaced his tired grin, "Yea. It's left back at home."

_He left it here, too._

* * *

_Kaze didn't talk much about himself, but then again, neither did Kale tell Kaze much about his own past. _

_(The Assassin Cross had pretty much forgotten about that incident where he had given him a chicken leg, and thus Kale always could lie a bit about that; excluding the embarrassment of him begging others for food.)_

_Still, it wasn't like he didn't notice little things; how sometimes Kaze would wake up suddenly at night, sweating; how he would mention little things like the colour of red, and of a mother. Kale had tried many times to fit together the little puzzle pieces, but there was always something missing. He knew it wasn't up to him to ask either._

_Perhaps it would have been better if he had a mother. Sometimes he felt that, perhaps if his mother's face was something more than that ghost of a smile she had left him, he could talk more about her, and get more out of Kaze. Yet he couldn't, and neither did he understand what it was like to have a mother. His mother had faded out, shoved down by the heavy droplets of rain that refused to fall, compressed into a thin sheet that lay at the bottom of his heart._

"_You sound like my mom."_

_It wasn't something he had noticed either._

* * *

She walked past him on a busy autumn afternoon in Prontera. She walked past him, but a few steps later she realised, and turned back. "Kale-san?"

"Uo," Kale blinked at her, "Yune. You look… different."

Yune smiled a bit, "I went for the Hunter Exam and passed." She whirled around a bit to show off her uniform. "My parents accepted the fact that I was better at the bow and arrow."

"Your sisters too?"

"Uh huh." Her smile was a happy one. "Thanks to you and Kaze-san, of course."

"Us?"

"Yea," Yune grinned as she remembered, "Something about not being what you were supposed to be, but what you really were… I faced that with some courage. Somehow life got better."

"Glad to hear that."

Yune's smile faded away into a frown, "Are you okay?"

Kale blinked, and grinned at that. "What's with you guys and your 'are you okay's lately?"

"Oh, well… you just seem… different."

"Mm? Is that so?" He scratched the back of his neck and laughed a bit. Awkwardly.

"Not doing any quests?"

"I'm waiting."

She cocked her head to one side, looked as though she wanted to ask something else, but walked away with a wave and a polite blessing instead.

He watched her go with a blank expression.

* * *

_Kaze had been exceptionally silent lately. Strange, even, if that word could actually be used logically. Not only did he have the tendency to go quiet all of a sudden, he also seemed to be thinking about a lot of things._

_He smoked more. And clogged the air with cigarette smoke._

_It was of no doubt that Kale was worried. But it wasn't like he had the right to know what exactly was on Kaze's mind. Sometimes, though, he asked, and yet the answers he could make nothing out of. _

"_I don't want to push my past onto you."_

_But you never did, Kaze._

_You never talked about it, either. _

_But neither did I._

_Why then, were you able to take my mother's words out of her mouth, and put them into your own?_

* * *

Jo jogged up to him, his breaths coming out in small white wispy clouds that reminded Kale of cigarette smoke. "Kale-nii!"

"Yo."

Jo blew at his hands, "It's too cold to be out nowadays."

"The winter in Prontera has become colder this year, I heard."

The young Sniper shrugged at that, "To me, it's just cold."

Kale laughed a bit, but the sound was strangely coarse. For a moment, the almond-brown eyes of the younger boy looked saddened,

"We thought you might want to come tonight. We've got a barbeque you know, roasted sweet potatoes and all that. It'll be great for winter."

"Sounds great, but I've already got plans for dinner."

"Aa…" The reply was more sad than disappointed. This wasn't the first time.

Kale grinned, but his grins always looked awkward lately, a little rigid, a little crooked, a little unnatural. "You know, the usual, dinner date with a cute girl."

Jo smiled a bit, he tried very hard to smile a full smile, "Are you… still waiting?" There was no dinner date, only waiting.

There was a pause, and for a moment red eyes looked unsure. "Perhaps."

No more words were said, only the white puffs of breaths as Jo jogged over to where Kotone and Atsuki were waiting.

Kale scratched the back of his neck and leant against the brick wall behind him. Cold, but not that it made a difference. He cast his eyes to the sky as the first traces of a snowflake formed and fluttered down in a meek spiral.

Snow.

So it was winter already.

* * *

He returned home at midnight (or sometime past midnight, he didn't really care), having visited the pub and downed a record number of alcoholic drinks that now tasted about the same to him anyway. The alcohol warmed his stomach, and it made the walk back home slightly warmer, but not any more pleasant. The ground was whirling and by the time he managed to unlock the door he had to dash for the toilet to retch.

His throat was raw by the time he had finished throwing up, his stomach more empty than usual. The house was cold, but he turned on the orange lamps and made himself a cup of warm salt water, just so his throat would feel better. After three cups the sore in his throat was gone, but the lump was still there.

He put down the cup. Next to Kaze's.

For a moment he stared at the two cups. He didn't do anything else, just simply stared at them. He didn't know whether it was the alcohol or insanity that made him crack up into hysterical laughter after that. He laughed and laughed and laughed until he could feel something warm and moist run down his cheeks, and then he was sobbing and biting down on his tongue to stop wailing.

_Stupid._

_Stupid._

_Stupid._

_What am I doing anyway? _

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his arm, but it didn't really do much anyway. Instead, with tears still clouding his vision, he picked up the other mug, walked over to the bin, and let go.

He watched it fall.

And as it hit the empty bottom, it shattered into little bits and pieces, cloudy and blurred by tears.

* * *

_There was a brief moment in time as he watched the Assassin Cross turn his back on him and leave when he knew he could've reached out. Reached out and grabbed him and told him about all his unease._

_Are you leaving me like mom did?_

_Naa, what did I do wrong?_

_Don't go._

_Don't leave me behind._

_Don't tell me to wait here._

_Don't tell me you'll be back._

_Yet by the time his hand had managed to reach out he had grasped thin air. Instead his nails dug into his palm, and as he closed his eyes in an attempt to get rid of the image of him walking away, he could feel the blood run down._

* * *

The christmas season of Prontera wasn't something people paid too much attention to. The people who really wanted the christmas spirit would go to Lutie. Yet as Kotone walked the streets of Prontera, wading in the snow a few inches deep, watching the warm little lights, she couldn't help but notice that strange detail that seemed out of place as she walked past that small corner by the brick wall.

Kale wasn't there anymore.

* * *

(1) Are, pronounced "a-reh", is not "are" in English. XD When used as a single word, in a question, "are?" is like "huh?"

Yes. Yes I know. Emo. D: But you can't deny the fact that every single person has this one thing (at least one thing) in them that can drive them crazy, and emo.

I remember reading an article about kids who have been abandoned by their parents at a young age, about how strongly they would react to anyone close to them just walking away from them. My friend told me about how her baby sister (also adopted) would just simply break down and start crying when her mother sent her to school and walked away.

Kale isn't at the age where he can break down, cry, and hug on to Kaze's legs, but I don't think that simple fear and devastation really leaves you alone, especially when only around ten years have past.

No, Kale does not kill himself after this, neither does he start becoming cold and distant, or any other thing emo people do. He moves on… sorta. (smiles) Yes, I have the next chapter written up (after many people brought knives and daggers to me for this chapter), but I think I'll leave a bit of a pause before I put it up.

(/Evil)

Ah, I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to give me daggers and knives for presents. (beams)

(Gets stabbed by one)


	13. Chapter 13

**The Hika Blabs ::**

For everyone who was looking forward to knowing what in the world Kaze did in those three months… I don't know. (WHAT?!) Well… I know the basic idea, but I know no details because Minou refused to give them to me. A little summary though, since I will only mention it vaguely from now onwards:

Kaze left Kale (in chapter 11) to "clear up some things", simply because the memory of his mother and his past (yes, I will try to touch up on this, so allow me to stay vague on this for now orz) seemed to be affecting the way he was seeing Kale, and the way he was treating their relationship. This "clearing up of things" involved returning to the home he hated so much, talking to the father he hated even more, and agreeing to certain terms and conditions in an attempt to further understand his mother more, and find a way to calm that whole memory within him. Since he returns in this chapter (yes yes, I know I'm spoiling it, but you all knew he'd come back right? XD), yes, he has it all cleared up.

Or so he hopes. (And we hope too.)

Ah, to the rest of everyone else, please enjoy chapter 13 (smiles) Ah, and merry christmas. (A little late, my dear.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 13****  
オレはまだ待っている…　　馬鹿みたいに**

(_I'm still waiting… like an idiot._)

It was already spring, Kotone realised as she walked the streets of Prontera, the bible heavy against her chest. The trees were bare last week, but now she could already see traces of the bright green leaves begin to sprout. Yet the air was still chilly, and she couldn't help but let out a small shiver. The morning sun was warm on the white paved tiles though, and the marketplace in Prontera was as noisy as usual. She walked past that corner by the brick wall, and couldn't help but stop to look.

It was strange, not seeing him there anymore. Then again, to tell the truth, ever since that day Kale stopped waiting none of them had seen him much either. He was constantly busy, out taking up quests and doing even more errands than usual. Even during the short periods of time Kotone met the young stalker, all she could think about was how much older he seemed; quieter and colder, even. The smile was still there, the same old crooked grin he always managed to give them, and so was his careless wit and outgoing cheerfulness. But now that was all it was – a crooked grin, nothing else. Oh, sure, people could argue that he didn't change, but Kotone could feel it – that small hole, that small leak, so small and so insignificant; but leaking.

Either that, or she was being over-sensitive. Paranoid.

Perhaps.

Kotone let out a small sigh. Only a few months, but so much had changed it almost seemed as though Prontera itself was changing. It was quite a ridiculous thought though, since the city never changed.

Only the people did.

A small breeze seemed to brush past her, along with the wreaths of cigarette smoke.

It wasn't the first time such a thing had happened, when she turned around and grabbed the shoulder of a complete stranger, calling the name that came with the breeze and realising what a big mistake it was. It had been embarrassing, having to apologize to a rather bewildered stranger who had been dubbed the name "Kaze" in that brief moment. But still she stopped and turned around, her hand reaching for the shoulder. This time though, this time it wasn't her eyes playing tricks on her.

"…Kaze."

* * *

"Nothing's changed much, huh?" 

"Yea," Kotone looked out of the window of the small restaurant they huddled in, and took a sip of her coffee, relishing in the bitter warmth. "Prontera never seems to change. Not much anyway…" She trailed off, looking up from her cup, her eyes hovering for a moment on his face. Slightly older, almost as if he had aged a year in those few months. No matter how much she wanted to start accusing him for leaving, accusing him for all the changes that had suddenly seemed to shift into everyone's lives just like that, it was almost impossible to do so now. He had his reasons. And somehow, he had suffered too. "Been a tough three months?"

He laughed dryly – a bitter laugh, "More or less. Don't ask."

"Don't worry," She smiled at that, "I won't. You're back for good?"

A slight frown, "I hope." Seeing the alarm on the High Priestress' face, he added hurriedly, "I'm back for good. Unless something else happens, which should be unlikely. And I hope with all my heart nothing else would, because…" He muttered something incoherant under his breath, which sounded vaguely like extremely colourful language that males thought were never meant for the delicate ears of a female.

So Kotone was content. "You'll be going to see him, right?"

* * *

There were certain things in life that never went the way you wanted them to be. To these things, Kale had stuck his middle finger up at, 'pfft'ed at them, and turned the other way. In other words, he avoided them. Anything that gave an unknown result, one of which might be hurtful to him, he ran away from. But yet life itself was one of those things that Kale stuck his middle finger up at, and there was really no escaping from life itself – unless of course, you died; but Kale's most basic promise to himself was to make sure he himself, and only himself (perhaps, this could be doubted now), was still alive – and so he was lost. 

Two months ago he had given himself one entire day to break down and recover. This of course, involved lots of cursing, breaking of cups and other household necessities that belonged to Kaze (not that much were left; nor did Kaze have much in the beginning), and then a bit of crying (which he would deny having done if you asked him now) before he forced himself to move on.

Stop waiting. Move on.

It wasn't a surprise anyway – he knew Kaze would leave, he just didn't want him to, neither did he expect him to leave in a way so similar to his mother's – and Kale had prepared himself for it, long ago. And so, like most other preparations he had made, he tried to follow the rules he had set for himself.

What was the point of making all your happiness in your life come from just one single person? There was no such thing, afterall, as dying without love – that he was more than sure about – so long as you still had food and money.

So Kale moved on.

Or… so he hoped.

Then came the painful (and pitiful) days that followed – days that involved him telling himself it was over; Kaze was gone, he had left him alone and there was now nothing he could do about it except forget about that stupid idiot and move on. And at the same time always sniffing the air for that familiar scent of cigarette smoke and rain, turning almost everytime he thought he saw a flicker of the silver-haired Assassin, jumping up from the couch at night when he thought he heard the door click open…

It was painful, not in the 'oh my god how could he have left me my world is now over' way, but rather because such a thing Kale would have thought to be a trivial matter was actually causing such an impact on himself. Yes, perhaps he was simply being the type of hypocrite that tried everything in his ability to appear strong and reject the weak, just for the sake of it. Realising that had hurt his pride, his ego, and his self-esteem.

All his life, Kale had lived calculating all his risks and ensuring that everything went the way he wanted them to be (which were as follows: him staying alive, getting a lot of money, having meat to eat every meal, and of course – the last priority: staying unhurt emotionally and physically), along came a person called Kaze Kigami, and…

Boom.

Goodbye calculations, goodbye peaceful life where everything went the way he wanted them to go, where anything that went wrong was simply discarded and completely forgotten or ignored… Goodbye happy blissful detached life of isolation…

That effing bastard.

And that was how Kale came to realise that once more – and god damn it – his thoughts had managed to fly back to the midnight-eyed idiot.

That was when the door decided it was a good time to disturb him with a knock.

He groaned, removed his arm from its blindfold-like state atop closed eyes, and kicked himself off the couch. It was a long walk to the door – which he had got into a habit of locking lately; a stupid decision he decided to abandon today onwards – and involved him dragging heavy feet across the floor and heavy eyelids up and away from his eyes. The alcohol from yesterday night was still buzzing merrily in his head as he flicked the lock open, threw open the door with heavy arms while his eyes (hopefully) threw a hostile glare in the direction of whoever it was who decided to interrupt his happy little reflection session with himself (the only time when he could think about Kaze and curse words at the same time, and allow himself to do so) and…

"Ah."

Kale's hand slammed the door shut and he leant against it, rubbing his eyes. Wait? What was that?

And why in the world did he close the door for!?

There was a shocked silence before,

"Oi, gaki. What the hell are you doing?"

It was him. Oh god damn insert-other-really-colourful-vulgar-phrase-here, he was back, and…

While one half of Kale seemed to float into the air and do a happy little dance, the other half split itself into two more halves:

One half that was already regretting the fact that a large half was doing a happy little (silly) dance, that it was _wrong_ to be so happy after he was supposed to have forgotten and moved on. _Stupid._

The other half was contemplating about the possibility in which all this could just be a dream, and when Kale woke up from it he would feel even more stupid from actually having a dream about Kaze (then again, though he would deny it, he had been dreaming quite a lot recently).

And whilst all the different little halves quarrelled in their annoying little voices above the buzzing of alcohol within Kale's head, outside Kaze was threatening to kick the door open. Or burn a hole through it with his cigarette – was that even possible?

For the sake of the door, Kale took in a deep breath, rounded his hands into fists, and opened the door once more. Yes, he confirmed, it was (that beeping hell of a beep) Kaze. Same old messy silver hair with stray strands sticking out at odd angles, same old midnight-blue eyes that tended to look bored (or sexy, it depended on how you saw them), same old not-so-patient-but-still-rather-bored look on his face (that looked a little more annoyed than usual now), same old slightly-low voice with the ability to paralyze young virgins that seemed to be saying something now… Not that Kale heard, he was too busy focusing on the punch he threw in Kaze's face.

It was obviously not expected, since for one of the rare moments in Kale's short life, the fist came in contact with a cheek and Kaze stumbled backwards (Kale, at that moment, cursed his pathetic muscle power; having the guy fly backwards would certainly have proved to be more entertaining), a priceless expression etched onto his face.

Three seconds.

And then Kale cracked into hysterics and dodged the fist that attempted to return a punch, ducking down and using that momentum to tackle Kaze in the stomach; both of them losing their balance and collapsing into one messy heap on the ground.

"You… stupid… idiot…" Kale gasped and looked up with a glare, though the grin seemed more overwhelming than anything – the larger half of him was winning with the happiness, apparently – "Three months!? _Three months!?_ Where did the 'I won't take so long' go!?"

"Never said that." A shrug.

"You fecking did." But all he did was tighten his grip around Kaze's midsection, let out one long sigh, and buried his face in his chest. Cigarettes and rain; the fragrance he was so tempted to recreate on a rainy day, the urge to go out and grab a box of cigarettes and start smoking… so pointless, because somehow he knew that even that would never be able to reproduce such a scent. So pointless, only because it was a sign of attachment.

"I only promised I'd be back."

"I never took that promise for anything," Kale mumbled under his breath. His mom had promised, but she never came back; Kaze had promised, and Kale expected him never to come back either. But both promises, no matter how much he would deny it, were small specks of light within him, the hope he never wanted to admit looking forward to. But it didn't matter now. Not now, when the warmth was everything that mattered.

Kaze's fingers found themselves into his hair, almost awkwardly; the movement rusty by three months of non-practise that slowly seemed to regain its own memories, the initial slight twitch developing into the usual careless stroke. It had all gone missing for too long, and now Kale couldn't help but embrace their return, his face still burrowed in the chest, still inhaling long breaths of his scent.

It had been too long, and he missed it.

Missed what? A random voice called out in his head.

I don't know, he thought back. Missed everything, perhaps. Missed Kaze, perhaps… And his mind was still foggy as he shifted upwards and carelessly, hazily, brushed lip against lip.

And realised they were outside, lying on the pavement, and… "Oh shit."

He sat up, Kaze snorted, and both of them began to laugh like insane madmen; still sitting on the pavement, still rather awkward… Then Kale stood up, dusted himself off, and held out a hand. It was taken, heisitantly at first, then an affirmative squeeze followed. Kale returned the squeeze carelessly, his grin persistent, "I broke your cup by the way. And er, all the other stuff you left behind…"

"You _what_!?"

"Buy new ones yourself."

"… you will pay for this, gaki…"

"No I won't…"

"Oh yes you will…"

And Kale concluded, as his mouth gladly returned to the days where it could spew completely nonsensical insults that didn't matter, that he missed having everything go wrong.

And of course, the person who made everything go wrong.

In every way possible, it was the silliest type of happiness in the world.

* * *

Yay. Finally I can get rid of the emo stink! (does a little dance) Ah, I like angst, really, but if the angst continues it's not Stray anymore, so I rejected the slightly more emo conclusion to Chapter 12, and coughed this one out instead. 

Uhm, the story will continue, since I was reminded that I haven't managed to clear everything up yet, and thankfully (yay!) Stray will return to its usual "let's do errands for pretty girls" style… I think.

But bleh. Hope you liked. (runs away)


	14. Chapter 14

**The Hika Blabs ::**

I was running out of ideas. So, while I attempt to beg around for ideas for errands these two can do, bear with me. DX It will feel like a filler episode!!! (even though er… I suppose Stray is like a _series_ of filler episodes… nevermind.)

(scratches head) I hope this works out… (sighs)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 14  
「空回り」という探し物…か？**

(_The search called Pointless…_)

That morning had started out in chaos.

Kotone stumbled through the doors of the Thief Guild, gasping,

"Kale-chan! Taihen taihen!!!(1)"

And the next moment a bundle of Sniper and Falcon crashed into her,

"Kaze-nii! HELP!!!"

All the members of the Thief guild – rotting cloaks and all – looked up either from their games of cards, vulgar conversations, or plain sulking, heard two names, then returned to whatever they had been doing previously.

Qren rubbed at his temples, muttered something that resembled "now what" under his breath (decorated with lots of fancy-censored words), and glared at the reason for such chaos to be introduced into the Thief Guild of Morroc. The glare read: "Get out and handle whatever is the matter. Now."

The glare was ignored, but Kale ushered the two panicky visitors into a nearby waiting room anyway. Kaze stood up, dusted himself off, and not-very-willingly trailed after them.

* * *

"Jo received a _what_?!"

"Proposal." Kotone replied solemnly. "You know," She added quotation marks with her fingers to emphasise her statement, "Proposal."

"Well…" Kale looked disturbed, "How old are you again?" A pause, "No wait! That's not the point! The point is that no one's ever proposed to _me_, and I'm obviously the better choice!" He grinned, "Right?"

Kaze snorted.

"Hey! What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

A shrug for a reply.

"Okay, nevermind me…" Kale leant against the wooden table and looked at Jo, "You okay? You look traumatized."

"She's _everywhere._" Jo whimpered, his lower lip trembling, "Everywhere!"

"I'm assuming that means you don't want to." Kale scratched the side of his cheek, "Which makes sense. How old are you again? Thirteen? Fourteen? What's the girl like? Pretty?"

Kaze shot him a look, Kale cackled nervously,

"Right. Uh… why did you come to us again? 'Cus er, we like being single, thank you very much. And other than that I don't know what else we can do…" Pause. "Wait, I'm reminding you that Kaze will _not_ kill another human being ever again, okay?"

Jo flashed his puppy eyes at them.

Kale's eyebrow twitched.

* * *

"This… is insane." Kaze crossed his arms and leant back against a lamp post. In front of him Kotone sat smilingly, a huge wooden sign in front of her:

**Searching for a good man to become a husband! (NOT FOR ME)**

The High Priestess' cheesy smile seemed to twitch slightly, "We've got no other choice left. I'm really really sorry you have to do this with me."

A shrug, "It's okay." Kale and Jo had run off to look for various males they knew, just to check if any were interested, and Kotone had been given the job of sitting and waiting. Kaze was there as a bodyguard, just in case, because there were many people who never read complete sentences. "I just don't really see the point… Jo's rejected her, right? Why are we doing this again?"

"Because the poor girl…" Kotone sighed, "Got into a quarrel with her previous husband, and is really, really, _really_ dejected right now. Jo doesn't want her to get any more depressed, so he thought it would be better if we found her a better guy!"

Kaze snorted, "Right." It didn't matter, really. Afterall they'd still get paid for doing this rather ridiculous job, and Kaze himself didn't really mind an afternoon standing and staring into thin air. Besides, it wasn't as if anyone would really-

"Hey!" A Champion had flopped down next to Kotone, flipping brown hair out of his eyes (possibly in an attempt to look cool), "You're looking for a husband?"

"Err, no."

People never read complete sentences.

"My friend's looking for one, actually…"

The Champion raised an eyebrow, "Well, why didn't she come herself then?"

"She's uhh… busy." Kotone's eyes slid off to one side. They all felt it would be better if they kept it a secret until they found the right guy, and thus the girl didn't know what they were doing. "I have a photo of her though!" A very professional smile as Kotone fished out a photo from a pocket and waved it in front of the young man, "How's this? Young Gypsy… She's quite cute, ain't she? Not very poor, of a nice personality and an equally nice body…"

He rubbed his nose, embarrassed, "Miss, I'm more interested in you…"

"Eh."

Kaze sighed, uncrossed his arms and placed a hand on Kotone's shoulder. "Sorry. Taken."

And the Champion stood up and walked off dejectedly.

Kaze re-crossed his arms and leant back once more. Kotone beamed,

"That worked pretty nicely."

A slight nod as he reached into his pockets and pulled out a cigarette, "Easy too."

He didn't know, of course, that he would be doing the same thing over and over and over again, all afternoon.

* * *

"Oiii! Tetsuya!!!" The young Whitesmith was one of Jo's friends, the person they had constantly turned to whenever their weapons rusted over and required repair. Afterall, it was cheaper than getting new weapons, and Tetsuya was the type of nice guy you could grovel and beg and convince to give you a discount.

Smart, relatively good looking, of quite a good income, and not bad with his hands. And, from what Kale and Jo knew about him, single.

The door opened, a head poked out, "Ah, Kale, Jo. Weapon problems again?"

"Uh, no, actually…" Kale looked at Jo and nudged him. Jo nudged back. And so began the Elbow-Nudge competition.

Finally, Kale – rubbing a sore side grumpily – started, "We wanted to err… ask if you were interested."

"In?" A raised eyebrow. Tetsuya stepped away from the door, "You guys want to come in first?"

Tetsuya's workroom was as messy as usual, with tools and various materials strewn all over the place, otherwise shoved into various drawers just so some tabletops could be left empty. The stove heated the entire house up like an oven.

The Whitesmith pushed a pile of… _something_ to one side, revealing what looked like a tea table. "Tea?" He grinned, a gloved hand reaching up to brush messy honeyed-brown fringes out of his eyes, "Or… iced water?" He added when Kale pulled off his jacket.

"Iced water." Came the immediate reply as Kale flopped down on what looked like a stool (not before he had carefully removed what looked like a boulder from atop of it), "Hey Tetsu," They had the habit of calling him that, since it was a shorter version of his name, "You interested in anyone?"

"What?" There were sounds from the kitchen.

"Interested in getting married anytime soon?"

Tetsuya returned, balancing a tray of three small cups of water, and looked at Kale, confused. "I'm eighteen."

"The age for every good guy in Rune Midgard to get married!" Kale beamed.

"Kaze's eighteen."

Kale tutted at that, "Aah you don't understand. He's not a good guy."

"Right." The tray was set down on the table, "Why all of a sudden?"

"Well, you see, we know this girl…" Jo smiled.

"Never knew you guys were into matchmaking," the reply was laughed off, "Sorry guys, I'd like to focus on my work rather than get into a relationship for now…" He frowned slightly, "Girls are too confusing for me."

Jo flashed Kale a look.

Kale shrugged and took a cup of water. "Five down, two more to go."

* * *

"How was it?" Jo threw a hopeful glance in Kotone's direction. The High Priestess shook her head slightly, behind her Kaze looked somewhere between ready-to-kill and plain-exhausted. The young Sniper blinked, "Eehh… Kaze-nii?"

"People who can't read full sentences…" Mumble mutter, "It's okay if they walked away without making a fuss… two idiots had the nerve to challenge me to a duel for the right to our fair maiden's hand… They have a better right to love her?" Mumble mumble mutter. "And they don't even know her. What's with people lately? Saying the word 'Love' without thinking of the consequences…"

Jo looked from his trembling clenched fist to the immense mass of dark aura Kaze was giving out, and turned to Kale pleadingly. The Stalker returned his look with a look of utter 'Why are you looking at me?!', but faltered after the puppy-eyes continued,

"Oh… fine." A sigh, and Kale scratched the back of his neck in exasperation, "Come on Kaze. Dinner!" A firm hand on his shoulder, and then a drag. "I want barbeque today! Your treat?"

"…What!?"

"Barbequee! Please? I want baarbequeee!"

"Muri iu na!(2) If you really want it pay for it yourself!"

"But Kaaazeee-! I know you have more money than I do! Right? Right?"

Jo and Kotone exchanged smiles. At that moment the speaker nearby crackled to life. "We would like to interrupt with a small announcement! Ms. Konnette Snou would like to invite all her friends to the church for her wedding which will be commencing in twenty minutes' time."

"… eh?" Kotone looked to Jo, who blinked a record number of times in a mere ten seconds,

"EH!??!?!??!"

Ten meters away, Kale and Kaze turned back to look at Jo quizzically, but the Sniper was long gone, speeding across the pavement in a wild dash for the church.

* * *

Kaze refused to join the crowd. But since the bride was a friend to Kotone and Jo, Kale was pretty sure that if they stayed for the length of the wedding, they'd be presented with a small gift of sorts – hopefully this would be money (3) – and forced Kaze to stay. Kaze, tempted by the mention of free money, agreed to stay so long as they didn't have to join the crowd. And so Kale comfortably detached himself from the middle of a mass conversation of excited friends of both bride and groom, took Kaze by the hand, and led him all the way to the very back of the hall in which the ceremony was to be held.

"Ara?" A surprised voice to their left, where the entrance to the hall was, and a young Lord Knight stood smiling at both of them, "Didn't know both of you came to weddings."

"For the money," Kaze exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke.

Kale nodded, "The money. What brings you here, Teji?"

Teiji Tachikawa was one of the few people Kaze called a friend, who wasn't female. Kale himself didn't get to see much of the spear-wielding kid who seemed to always be smiling, but since he was Kaze's friend (and a rare male one, too), Kale assumed that this had to be one of those rare Mr. Nice Guys.

"Well, I happen to know Konette-chan from a while ago…" He smiled and leant against the wall next to Kaze, "Mind if I join?"

"No problem, unless you like the crowd." Kale jerked a shoulder in the direction of the very excited mob; Jo a confused speck amongst happy people congratulating each other for who knows what reason.

"It's okay, I'm not that excited," Teiji chuckled, "Found a husband for Konette so soon?"

"You've heard?"

"Yea, Kotone was asking me this morning if I was interested…" Teiji laughed a bit, shrugging a shoulder, "I guess I wasn't that interested. Konette's a good friend and all, but truthfully speaking, not really my type…"

"Mm," Kale nodded to that; he had more or less grown accustomed to such a reply. Five of the people they had tried visiting today gave a similar reply of sorts. Kale concluded, after five tries to no avail, that somehow, all the "not so bad" males were all tied up with something else and were not very interested in starting a relationship. The desperate males who ended relationships as fast as they started them seemed to be the ones running around begging for brides.

It was a strange syndrome. As Jo had said rather plainly, you didn't get to see many "love at first sight" relationships last long nowadays.

"We didn't find this one." Kale grinned, "See Jo there, looking confused?"

Teiji smiled slightly, shaking his head. "Expected. I've known Konette for quite a bit, afterall. She's known for… getting married really fast, then when everything's going just fine and she and her new husband's all lovey-dovey, the girl starts a quarrel and refuses to make it better. Then she claims that her husband loves her no more." A shrug, "The husband gets frustrated, confused, and exasperated, and thus divorces her. It's happened about three times now, and all she has to do is look depressed and upset and some nearby male would want to comfort her and make it all better." There was no hint of disagreement in Teiji's voice, just a straightforward neutral narration. "She's not the only case you know, in Rune Midgard nowadays…"

* * *

Kale watched as the crowd happily sent bride and groom out of the church, flooding through the doors in one happy group. He wondered why these people didn't find it strange that the bride was just divorced. He wondered why everyone was so excited over a wedding. It was almost like a comedy, stupid to the extent of being hilarious.

The priest who gave the blessings smiled and shook her head slightly, and walked towards the doors, her bible hugged against her chest. Her smile seemed to widen as she walked past Kaze, eyes shining,

"My blessings to you for finding your other half soon."

Kaze watched her leave, a blank expression on his face as he fished another cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. He turned to Kale, and raised an eyebrow, "Her blessings for me to find my other half soon."

Kale chortled, his laughter suddenly very loud in the empty church, and slipped his hand into Kaze's. "Would you be complete then?"

"I'd be one and a half of a Kaze," came the reply. "Don't need another half."

Kale laughed, "Seriously? If marriages are so easily broken nowadays, there really isn't much of a point, is there?" he grinned, pulling at the hand slightly, "Come on. Dinner."

"Dinner." Kaze agreed.

* * *

(1) Taihen – "something terrible has happened" in this context. Taihen on its own can mean anything from "terrible" to "confusing" to "complex problem". XD

(2) Muri iu na – Don't demand something impossible… or something close to that. English is not a good language to translate Japanese into! (Hika insists)

(3) I'm not sure what the case is in other RO versions, but in the Chinese RO, the couple getting married has to give their friends what we call "hong bao", which is a small (or large, depending on how rich they are) sum of money which is given as a gift. This is rather strange, because usually in Chinese tradition, it's the guests who give the married couple money… but alas, who cares.

Oh, and I'm not trying to make any statement about marriages in real life. The only statement I'm making about marriage (if I'm actually making one…) is about marriage in RO. Afterall it's a game, and thus perhaps because that is the case, everyone seems to take it lightly.

Marriages come and go like lightning. D:

But Hika will never forget that one sentence her first hubby told her the day he asked her to join him in another server and she asked if she should still be calling him hubby.

"But why not?"

"Oh, just in case you had another wife…"

"You're my only wife! Why in the world made you think that I'd have another one?"

"Ah, I meant no offense, really… I just thought, well… it's a game right?"

"Even if it's a game, you still need to be responsible, don't you?"

(smiles) I don't know what everyone's opinion is about marriages in RO, but ever since then I have been as serious as I could. Ever since he stopped playing I have probably taken up three more proposals, and I was serious for everyone (in the sense that I did everything I could for them, and truly treated the marriage like… well, like a marriage. XD); which was perhaps why I was always the one who got cheated on… XD And in the end it's always the guy who throws me away… (silly Hika)

But yes, in RO, marriages come and go like lightning. Some random guy comes and sits next to you and asks for your hand 30 seconds later. And surprisingly, most girls agree… It's very strange.

Also, people really, truly don't read full sentences. XD

Ah, and…! Isn't it annoying that homosexual marriages aren't allowed? (pouts) (is hit)

But yea, I suppose one day, Kale and Kaze might even get into trouble with the church… (winces) Okay, I didn't think that. That would make it so much more confusing… (runs away from the thought)


	15. Chapter 15

**The Hika Blabs ::**

New arc! New arc needed! (gaspchokesob) But alas. Hika is a person who has no more ideas thanks to Platinum Prism and .Fade… (grumbles) I will do my best. (apologizes)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ragnarok Online (duh), and Kigami Kaze's original character design belongs to my amazingly talented friend, Minou.

* * *

**Chapter 15  
人間はそういう生き物だから…**

(_Because humans are like that…_)

There were some times in life where boundaries were blurred. No matter how clearly you drew a line, it was either so fine you couldn't differenciate both sides of it clearly anymore, or too thick the line itself became a new area of consideration. Kaze and Kale never really met with too many problems with the boundaries they drew for their work, but somehow, one day, it happened.

"Information… theft?"

The girl sat opposite nodded once, a strand of long red hair falling across her face. She brushed it carelessly away with one hand, her other hand pushing forward a brown envelope, "I have the details you need in here." She smiled, not a bright sunny-type of smile, but at the same time not one of those cold smiles that never reached one's eyes. She smiled, her entire face smiled, but the smile itself was lukewarm, almost as if it didn't matter whether she was smiling or not.

Kale looked to Kaze, who wasn't looking at him; the Assassin Cross had turned to look at the wall on the otherside of the room, and didn't seem to want to look back. This was a job they would never have considered taking up, but the client was an amazing beauty. Plus, as Akai Hibari insisted, the information she wanted them to help her collect wasn't the normal information that other people wanted and asked to be stolen.

Kale scratched the back of his head, "Well, we really would want to help you, but you see we've long decided we won't be taking up jobs like these… Perhaps you could approach another pair instead…?" His grin was sheepish, almost faltering under the attentive gaze of the female Gunslinger that sat opposite him; not accusing, not cold, not even disappointed, just two blinking eyes of bright red.

"I'm a Jyouhou-ya(1), which means people come to me for all sorts of information, be it the usual top-secret government information ugly old men are interested in, or the stranger bits and pieces, like 'what coloured socks does my crush like wearing?' You know, stuff like that?" She smiled, a hand waving her strange comment away, almost as if she needed to add a small gust of wind so it could be shrugged off faster,

"The information I'm looking for isn't what both of you think it is, truly. If that were the case I would have never approached both of you, because I know what the reaction would be. _Because_ it is a strange request, I thought coming to both of you would have been the wiser decision…" She trailed off, and finally looked disappointed.

Kale looked to Kaze again, who was intent on staying focused on the wall, rather than the problem that was presented to his Partner. Kale frowned, extended a finger, and jabbed it into Kaze's side(2). There was a sound similar to a yelp mixed with a whimper, and Kaze had turned, (finally), a hand covering the side that had been so rudely attacked, blushing an astonishing red. His other hand showed Kale the middle finger – under the table, of course.

Kale returned the gesture – under the table.

Hibari smiled her lukewarm smile, this time with a tinge of amusement. "So?"

"Are we allowed to see the details and give you the decision?" Kaze inhaled deeply, the wreaths of cigarette smoke calming his flushed state.

The girl – or was she a 'young woman'? Hibari seemed to be in that strange area in between – cocked her head to one side, the brow furrowed slightly. The frown disappeared almost immediately, replaced by her usual smile as Hibari twirled a strand of bright red hair around her fingers, "Usually… I would say no. But if it's both of you, I suppose it would be possible…" She looked up at them, "But no matter what your decision is, no telling others what is in that envelope, okay?"

* * *

Kale had stuffed the brown envelope into a pocket and forgot about it until he had finished dinner. He pulled it out sheepishly and handled a rather crumpled ball of brown paper to Kaze, who gave him The Look.

Kale protested, "Hey! You forgot about it too!"

A snort – probably one that meant 'Yea right' – before Kaze straightened out the creases so he could find the mouth of the envelope. The contents were slipped out carefully, contents that were equally creased and had to be pressed out once more. Kale threw himself down on the sofa next to Kaze,

"So? What's this?"

Kaze's eyebrow twitched.

Kale blinked, and looked from the rather awkward shade of red on Kaze's face, to the pictures scattered on his lap.

"… errrr… A-apron?"

* * *

The crumpled envelope was pushed back across the table to a smiling Hibari by a beaming Kale,

"Well! We're glad you came to us, really, though err…" His beam faltered slightly, "I certainly don't hope you came to us because you thought we were interested in er…" He motioned at the envelope, "Those kinds of things…"

"Oh, no! Of course not," Hibari giggled – a lukewarm giggle – and waved a hand as if she was trying to dispatch _that_ thought as well. "I just heard from the other guilds that you two took up strange, out of the norm jobs so long as the request was from a relatively good looking female… And I thought both of you would be able to not take offense at my request…" She smiled, "Even we get strange requests for information as Jyouhou-ya you see, and it would be really awkward if I asked for help from some rather uptight guild member…"

Kale snorted, "Oh, yes. Imagine Qren's face…" The snort gave way to a cackle. "God. Not that he takes up any jobs, but… hahahaha…" He inhaled a long breath to stop himself from shaking in laughter, and jerked a thumb in Kaze's direction, "Though I'd have to say, Kaze's expression was amazing too."

"Shut up gaki, you wore a similar expression."

"Oh, I'm sure it would be a similar reaction from any decently healthy male…" Hibari winked, taking the rather crumpled envelope and tucking it under her jacket. "Did both of you crumple it in your embarrassment, or…?"

"Oh, uh, that was, err…" Kale laughed sheepishly, "Yea, that's what we did!"

Kaze raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing and leant back against the chair.

"I'm taking that both of you are agreeing to help?"

Kale held up a hand, "Not before we know what you're paying us. Even though we're sure this isn't one of those normal jobs, you do realise we're risking a bit of…" An awkward pause as Kale tried to look for the right word, "Pride?"

A chortle from the Gunslinger, "Well, of course I understand how both of you feel. Put yourselves in my shoes and think about how embarrassed _I_ feel about this…" Her smile widened slightly as she pushed forward a piece of paper, "How's this price?"

Both Stalker and Assassin Cross stared at the number on the paper with equally wide eyes.

"This is…"

"High?" Hibari smiled, "Oh, if it's too high I could always lower it, but…"

"No! It's okay! Perfectly fine!" Kale slapped Kaze on the back. Hard.

"And for the sake of your Pride, I'll also offer free services for both of you." She held out one finger, "One question each, and I'll provide you with the information you need." She inclined her head slightly, her smile ever-present, "How does that sound?"

Before Kaze could open his mouth Kale slammed a hand down on the table, "Done! Glad to be working with you!" He extended a hand, which Hibari shook firmly. Kaze sighed, though the fact that he was still smiling that small smile of his meant that he had no objections to whatever deal that was being made now.

Hibari stood up and dusted herself off, "Let's head to Glast Heim then."

* * *

"This isn't fair! How come _he_ gets to do it…" Kaze mumbled under his breath, blowing out an entire cloud of white cigarette smoke in annoyance.

"Because I," Kale grinned, "Am the Stalker! Now enjoy your part of the job whilst I do the stalking!" At Kaze's frown he stuck out his tongue, gave Hibari the peace sign, and took to the shadows, melting in almost instantly, his footsteps fading off into nothingness.

"He's going to get lost." Kaze muttered darkly.

"Oh don't worry," Hibari smiled, "He has a way to contact us if anything goes wrong, and I know my directions." Her hands reached to unclip the straps that held her handguns fastened in place against her thighs, though she made no move to actually pull them out. "Just in case," She answered to Kaze's unspoken question, "Come on. We'll just have to search around until Kale finds something."

"A question."

"Yes?"

"Who in the world was the one who wanted this information?"

Hibari shrugged, "Client information is never to be disclosed. I think they call this Privacy. Though as you can guess, probably another young male who is equally obsessed over Alice as you are."

There was a pause, "What? I-…"

Hibari giggled, "I know a bit about you, really. No denying anything to a Jyouhou-ya. We know."

Kaze frowned and said nothing else, though deep down he had the urge to ask Hibari what _else_ she knew about him. Nothing new, he hoped. Where did _his_ Privacy go, anyway?

Beside him, a flicker of movement, and the next second Hibari had both her guns drawn and fired two rapid shots in the direction of a flickering shadow. The bullets hit their target and burst into bright silver light. A little too bright. Kaze closed his eyes and brought out his katars, waiting for the disturbing whiteness to ebb away from his eyelids.

Somewhere to his right, Hibari's voice, "Too many. We'll split up. Keep in contact through the earpieces."

Kaze grumbled, opening an eye slightly, blinking it a few times to get used to the sudden dark after all that whiteness. Yes, there were more shadows now, flickering slightly probably because his eyes had yet to recover from those _stupid_ bullets. Why in the world did Hibari use things like that anyway? Something flew in his face, Kaze threw himself to one side, his katars using the momentum to slash a wide gash in the side of… whatever it was.

He could make out the slight outlines of the ground beneath him, and so he stumbled away in the direction that seemed to have the least shadows lurking about. Too many monsters were annoying.

* * *

A few more slashes and dizzy turnings at corners, and most of the disturbing spots that ate up his vision had disappeared. Kaze leant against the wall, ignoring the fact that it was probably moist and rotting, his recovered vision clarifying that finally, there was nothing else around that could prove to be annoying.

Something in his right ear crackled to life.

"Hey, Kaze? Hibari? I think I've found something. You see, I er, followed Alice into her room…" Kaze had to bite back the envy at that comment.

"Have you found the apron?" Hibari's voice this time.

"Well, no. She sorta just left just now… and I'm very awkwardly going through her drawers…" A mumble, "God I feel like a perv…"

"You are one," Kaze snorted.

"Hey! What's that supposed to-" A sharp noise of static. Crackle crackle. "Eh. What was th-" Crackle.

"Kale?" Hibari's voice, concerned, "Kale? Are you okay?"

Kaze flinched as another cloud of static sounded from the other side of the receiver.

"Shit, there's this-" Crackle crackle. "Kaze? You there? I think-" Crackle crackle. And then a sharp crack.

There was silence now, not even the wave of annoying static. Kaze frowned, pressed the receiver against his ear and wondered if his right ear was going deaf too. Nothing. He pulled the earpiece out of his ear and wondered if slamming it agaisnt the wall would do anything.

"Kale?" Hibari's voice. Which meant that it was probably still working. "Kaze? You there? Is this thing still working? Hey, can you hear me?"

Kaze fumbled a bit in an attempt to get the piece back into his ear, "Yea."

"Oh, good. I thought for a moment it stopped working. What happened just now?"

"Don't know." Kaze rubbed the back of his neck in an attempt to get rid of the goosebumps that had suddenly sprung up.

"Kale?" The voice sounded worried now, "Kale? You there?"

There was no reply. Kaze frowned,

"Probably had something to do with that crack just now. You think Alice came back and whacked him over the head with her broom?"

Hibari laughed a bit, nervously. "I'm still a little worried though…"

"He followed her into her room didn't he? You know where that is?"

"No, but it's probably near where Alice usually appears, right? Just a guess, of course."

"Where." A single word. Kaze was already attempting to remember the map Hibari had showed them before they had entered the building. None. His mind drew a blank, and he was annoyed.

"Second floor. Where are you now?"

"Don't know."

"Describe the area around you, I'll see if I can guide you…"

"Good. Thanks. Er, I'm…" He looked around, almost in a frantic attempt to take his surroundings.

"Kaze? You alright? You don't sound very-"

"Fine. I'm fine. Listen, there's a stairway nearby. The corridor's narrow here, I past three rooms just now… Left. I went left just now when I split up with you."

"Got it. I think I can guess where you are. Okay, Kaze? Take the stairs and go up, and when you get there…"

* * *

He met Hibari in the corridor she had guided him to, the Gunslinger slightly breathless from her run, Kaze visibly out of breath.

"Door." Hibari pointed in one direction, "Just a guess, but we can try. The other three I checked back there were empty rooms." She straightened, wiped the perspiration dripping from her chin with the back of her hand, and frowned, "Next time I will demand a tracking system in addition to the earpieces. And they'd better guarantee they don't malfunction ever again…" Still muttering to herself, Hibari walked over and threw open the door to the room she had pointed at. Kaze followed, dragging his feet in an effort to stop from collapsing.

He had, afterall, forgotten his medicine again.

The room was visibly empty, but Kaze knew he would have felt better if he didn't see an open drawer with a few pieces of clothing lying stray on the floor.

Hibari giggled slightly, "Almost truly as if a pervert just came searching through the drawers…" She picked up what looked like a blouse, "Amazing that monsters actually have a closet… Though I do suppose we'd have to consider the fact that Alice might not necessarily be similar to the other monsters we see crawling around…" She folded the blouse carefully and placed it back into the drawer, "Looks like he was here, since he didn't report searching through two rooms."

Kaze gritted his teeth. Where was Kale then? What was that crack anyway? Why didn't he reply? If it were just a simple malfunction of the receivers that would be fine, but then why wasn't Kale here…? Kaze shook his head. No, be logical. The earpieces malfunctioned, Kale got impatient with trying to contact them through all that static, thus broke his and went looking for them on foot. That had to be the case. He clenched a fist, then unclenched it.

Relax. All they had to do was hope that Kale was clever enough to exit the building and wait for them outside…

"Are you worried?"

"Huh? What?"

Hibari was watching him with those eyes of hers, "Are you worried?"

* * *

They found Kale at the entrance of the building, leaning against the wall with a hand firmly pressed against the back of his neck. "Ah, finally! I was just considering running back in to look for you guys…" He cracked into one of his usual grins, "Though that would be rather stupid, considering the fact that I'm not really seeing straight now… ah, but I got the apro-"

Kaze reached out and knocked him over the back of his head.

"HEY! OW! Is that the way you treat an injured person?!"

"Injured?" The grimace on Kaze's face seemed to darken. "Where."

"Whoa… don't look at me like that, it's nothing serious, really! Don't look at me like I'm about to die…? Tte oi, hito no hanashi kike!(3)" Kaze ignored the protests, reached over and pulled Kale's hand firmly away from his neck.

Behind him, Hibari let out a sound of sympathy. "Owch?"

"How did you get that."

"I'm fine, geeze! Not going to die! I checked, I didn't lose much blood…"

"_How did you get that._" The grip on his wrist tightened.

Kale meeped, red eyes flying to look at Kaze's face in alarm before flickering off to one side, "Dunno. There was this strange sound at the door, and then I think something hit me. I woke up near the entrance with a bleeding neck, so don't ask me how I got it…" He shrugged a shoulder, "Look. I'm fine! A bit dizzy from that tiny bit of blood loss, but otherwise perfectly okay! Now, will you please allow my hand to continue applying pressure to my wound before I _truly_ bleed to death?"

Kaze clicked his tongue in annoyance, but let go anyway, allowing a disgruntled Kale to bring a bloody hand back against the base of his neck.

"You'd want to try pressing something else against it, you know?" Hibari fished around in her waist pouch, producing a small towel. "Your hands might be dirty." She shoved the towel in Kale's direction. "You said you had the apron? Pass it over to me and I'll do the sketching of it…" She turned to Kaze, "Clean that up and send him to bed." A wink, "I'll visit both of you tomorrow with the money, ready to answer any one single question!"

Kale grinned, and held out the white (slightly bloodied) silk apron in his hands to Hibari. She took the apron and pressed the towel in its place. "Been a great pleasure working with both of you!" She waved once before walking away. There was a strange bounce in her step that was never there before.

* * *

"So? H-have you found out anything? Do-does he like anyone currently?"

Hibari smiled at the anxious girl in front of her. A slow, lukewarm smile.

"What's the girl like? Is she really pretty? Talented? What's her job?"

The lukewarm smile. A smile that kept secrets. "There… is no girl."

"Really?!" The young Acolyte let out a small sigh of relief, "S-so Kaze-sama doesn't like anyone, right? He's… he's free?"

"Well…" Hibari twirled a stray strand of red hair, "I don't think he would be… interested… but, I suppose you could try." Afterall, there was truly no girl. Hibari didn't really see the point in telling the girl everything. For one, she wouldn't want to believe, for another, humans seemed to like being given a slight suspense, even if it were something they always wanted to know. The girl ducked her head, flushing a bright red. The small envelope she pushed at Hibari contained the lace pattern on embroidered onto the stockings of the High Priestesses in the Church.

The Gunslinger smiled and waved at her client who bowed and left in a happy, blissful flustering jog. It had been slightly difficult, searching for information on a person like Kigami Kaze. There were the obvious things about him that everyone knew about – his family and his background; or a part of it anyway. There were the slightly less obvious things about him, including the things he liked and his hobbies. Then there was the nearly impossible-to-access bit, regarding his current relationships.

Kaze played around with quite a few women, but lately he did not visit them that often, and so Hibari had her guesses. A hypothesis she needed to confirm. There had never been such a convienient thing when the next day she received a desperate call from some young man who was extremely interested in the patterns in _specific_ pieces of women's clothing. Alice's apron, the lace patterns on a High Priestess' stockings, the golden patterns on a High Wizard's bodice…

The Acolyte could get the High Priestess' stockings for her, she knew a High Wizard who could lend her a bodice to sketch, and as for Alice's apron…

It was a bait.

Hibari leant back against her chair and waved for a waiter. "Coffee, if you don't mind."

Afterall, humans were creatures that would do anything to get what they wanted… weren't they?

* * *

(1) Jyouhou-ya, otherwise written in japanese as 情報屋; is a created term by yours truly (I don't think such an occupation really exists…) to describe a professional in handling "jyouhou", or "information". Basically if you want to know something – anything – you approach a Jyouhou-ya, and it would be rare that you don't get the answer. Sometimes, upon approaching a Jyouhou-ya, they would request for a bit of time (usually no longer than a week) to gather the information needed, or confirm that their information is the newest, latest updated version. There are cases where the Jyouhou-ya draws on a blank, and tells his/her client "I don't know", but even in those cases, they would provide some other information that might be useful.

(2) Kaze is… sadly, extremely ticklish (or shall we say 'sensitive'?) from the collarbone downwards. In other words, he is extremely vulnerable to tickling. His side is one of the more accessible and most sensitive spots, so Kale exploits this weakness without mercy when needed. (Unfortunately for Kaze, tickling Kale back never seems to produce the same effect; though Hika would randomly like to point out the fact that it is because he assaulted the wrong area. –smiles-)

(3) Tte oi! Hito no hanashi kike! – Oi! Listen to what others are saying! "Kike" is not exactly a very polite way of saying "listen", it's said in the "command" form… but well, Kale says most things like that. D:

I know I didn't explain everything clearly, but I thought it was better if I just left things as it is. It isn't that hard to understand, I feel, but if you do have any questions regarding What In The World Happened in this Chapter, drop me a review and I'll answer any queries you might have. (Ah, if you're going to leave an anonymous review and want a reply, please just drop me an e-mail address… XD)


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